Publication of medical case reports and the CARE guidelines.

A medical case report describes clinical observations on a single person (or sometimes a small series of related or similar cases). Case reports represent a timely way for advancing medical scientific knowledge of rare medical conditions, unusual forms of common diseases, management strategies and ethical issues. The first publications regarding thalidomide, Zika virus [1] and congenital abnormalities were case reports. While case reports usually arise from clinical observations in healthcare delivery settings they may also arise from observations in other locations such as the workplace [2]. Writing up case reports allows healthcare professionals and researchers to learn the principles of medical publishing, and to help develop academic writing skills. Furthermore case reports provide an invaluable resource for education.

Case Reports in Women's Health (CRWH) covers all aspects of women's health. The scope reflects the comprehensive nature of women's health from menarche to old age. It includes not only the core areas of reproductive and postreproductive health, but also key subspecialty areas, especially the following:

Reproductive health

Postreproductive health

Aging

Maternal Fetal Medicine

Surgery

Urogynecology

Manuscripts should be written in accordance with the CARE case reporting guidelines [3]. These guidelines, developed by an international group of experts, are designed to increase the accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of case reports. The CARE statement was first published in 2013 [4] and then elaborated in 2017 [5]. The CARE checklist provides a useful framework for writing case reports. Thus the words ‘case reports’ should be in the title as well as the phenomenon or condition of interest.

Manuscripts should also specify that consent for publication has been obtained either from the individual concerned or their legal representative [6,7]. CRWH expects that copies of the consent form are retained by the treating institution as well as by the individual (and/or legal representative) whose case is being reported. Furthermore submissions are expected to include contributor, conflict of interest and funding statements as per the CRWH Guide for Authors.

Contributors

Margaret Rees is the sole author.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.

Funding

None was sought or secured to write this editorial.

Provenance and Peer Review

This editorial was not peer reviewed.