Pre-Submission Preflight (jama-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before the portal
• Unsure which files and statements JAMA's system requires
• Confirming the manuscript matches the article type's limits

Word counts, reference caps, and exhibit limits change. Verify every number on JAMA's current Instructions for Authors page; the items below are durable requirements, not fixed figures.

Format & limits

• Manuscript matches the chosen article type and its word limit (verify current number)
• Abstract follows the JAMA structured headings and word ceiling (verify)
• Key Points box present where required (Question / Findings / Meaning)
• References within the cap for the article type; AMA reference style
• Figures + tables within the exhibit limit (verify)
• Line numbers and page numbers on the manuscript
• Title page with full author list, affiliations, corresponding author

Required statements (in the manuscript)

• Trial Registration line (trials) with registry + identifier; PROSPERO for reviews
• IRB/ethics approval and Declaration of Helsinki; informed-consent statement
• ICMJE authorship + contributorship statement
• Conflict-of-interest disclosures for all authors
• Funding source and role of the funder/sponsor
• Data-sharing statement
• Access-to-data / statistical-responsibility statement (trials)

Required uploaded files

• Main manuscript (with structured abstract, Key Points, body, references)
• Completed EQUATOR checklist (CONSORT / STROBE / PRISMA / STARD) with item locations
• Required flow diagram (CONSORT/PRISMA/STARD) as a figure
• Trial protocol + statistical analysis plan (trials)
• Cover letter
• ICMJE COI disclosure forms for each author
• Tables and figures per the journal's file specs (resolution, format)
• Supplement / online-only materials if applicable

Disclosure & integrity

• Manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere
• Any preprint / prior presentation disclosed
• Plagiarism / text-overlap self-checked
• Reporting standard items all locatable in the text

Portal operation

• Submit through JAMA's editorial-manager-style portal (verify the current URL on the journal site).
• Confirm author order, corresponding author, and ORCID where requested.
• Add suggested / non-preferred reviewers if the portal allows.
• Select the correct article type and category.

Anti-patterns

• Pasting a generic abstract instead of the JAMA structured one
• Missing the EQUATOR checklist or flow-diagram upload
• Trial Registration line omitted, or registration was retrospective
• COI forms not collected for every author
• Reference style left as another journal's format
• Exhibit/word counts exceeding the article-type limit (because numbers were assumed, not verified)

Submission pass for JAMA

Run this as a concrete capability pass. First lock the clinical question, patient population, estimand or endpoint, safety/ethics issue, and reporting checklist; then test whether the manuscript addresses clinical reviewers who ask whether the evidence changes patient care, policy, or medical decision-making while satisfying reporting standards.

• Primary move: Treat current official instructions as volatile; verify portal, file format, anonymity, length, data, ethics, and disclosure requirements before saying ready.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Sibling comparison: compare against NEJM for field-changing clinical medicine, Lancet for global-health breadth, specialty journals for narrower clinical domains; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.

Output format

【Article type + within limits】yes / over: ...
【Structured abstract + Key Points】present
【Required statements】complete / missing: ...
【Checklist + flow diagram uploaded】yes / no
【COI forms for all authors】yes / no
【Cover letter attached】yes / no
【Next step】awaiting decision → jama-peer-review-revision

Resources

• templates/checklist.md — pre-submission self-check across format, statements, files, and integrity
• templates/manuscript_template.md — JAMA manuscript skeleton (structured abstract, Key Points, IMRaD, required statements)
• ../../resources/external_tools.md — EQUATOR guidelines, registries, statistics software, and reference/figure tools