Significance of case reports in the advancement of medical scientific knowledge

Abstract

In an Editorial Comment in 2006 Carey summarized the issues surrounding the publication of case reports in the current medical literature. In this present study, three questions about case reports are posed by the author: Do journals still publish single case reports? What do medical journals call these reports? And how should we classify reports of single clinical observations? The author examined the table of contents of 25 prominent journals and addressed the question as to whether these selected periodicals published case reports. The analysis showed that 32% of reviewed journals published case reports and 32% did not, while the remainder of journals published this class of papers but in a modified fashion and not regularly. Journals varied in what term they use to describe case reports. The author proposed a classification system for case reports in the human genetics literature. More dialogue and research is needed to examine the role of case reports in the medical scientific literature.

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