Where Have All the Case Reports Gone?
Open Access
- 1 January 2001
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Clinical Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 32 (1) , 1
- https://doi.org/10.1086/317543
Abstract
Word of mouth has it that Clinical Infectious Diseases is no longer accepting reports of single cases or small collections of cases. This information is not correct. There are, for example, in the August, September, and October 2000 issues of CID , 21 case reports published. CID will continue to publish case reports, but fewer than before. The issue is one of priorities, given our limited page space. Case reports generally are scientifically less rigorous and of a narrower focus than larger series or other studies. For example, reports of an infection caused by an unusual organism in a single patient, a “gee whiz” case, are of limited appeal. The very rarity of the event suggests that few readers will ever encounter a case. Another concern is that it is often difficult to establish a cause-and-effect relationship in 1 or 2 cases. For example, effects attributed to a treatment may be due to other causes. Finally, many case reports do not yield a “lesson” of practical importance.Keywords
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