Embargo Policy

Prior to Article Publication

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) employs a media embargo system, which allows journalists time to conduct interviews in the days before an article’s publication.

Weekly print issues of NEJM have Thursday cover dates. Qualified journalists receive embargoed online access to coming issues on the preceding Fridays at 10:00 a.m. ET and may conduct interviews with authors and prepare stories. These reporters agree to neither publish nor broadcast their stories until after the embargo lifts at 5:00 p.m. ET on the Wednesday prior to publication.

Articles published on an accelerated schedule — in particular, those published to coincide with meeting presentations — may be assigned different embargo schedules, which will be communicated to relevant parties as needed.

NEJM does not issue pre-publication news or video releases to media subscribers, but does provide information on how to reach article authors.

Authors may opt to direct media calls to their institutional press offices. Institutional press offices may also issue embargoed press releases after the media embargo period opens on Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET. Senders of embargoed press releases are responsible for enforcing the embargo period with all press release recipients.

Members of the media wishing to reprint tables and/or figures from NEJM articles should request permission from NEJM Media Relations (contact information below).

Advance submission of safety data to government oversight boards will not preclude publication in NEJM, however, authors should inform NEJM editors when this is done.

NEJM accepts the submission of manuscripts that have previously been posted on a nonprofit preprint server. Authors should notify NEJM of any preprint related to a manuscript submission.

Authors are expected to refrain from discussing their research with reporters prior to publication except during the embargoed access period noted above.

Medical Meetings

Presenting research at scientific meetings or submitting results to government agencies before publication does not violate the NEJM no-prior-publication editorial policy.

Additional guidance is provided below:

• Media outreach. Authors will not jeopardize publication of their manuscript by responding to media inquiries at a medical meeting or during the week following a meeting. However, authors are asked to refrain from indicating that their research has been submitted to or accepted for publication by NEJM.
• Meeting presentation. Meeting organizers may promote an author’s presentation in a press release, plan a press conference, publish an abstract in meeting proceedings, or post presentations on their websites. NEJM should not be mentioned in such instances.

Guidance for Corporate Sponsors of Research

Corporate sponsors of research may make representatives available to answer incoming media inquiries during the embargo period. However, corporate sponsors of research must refrain from any promotion until after the embargo lifts.

If a study’s sponsor is required by law to release certain information before time of publication, it should do only the minimum required and not name NEJM.

In conjunction with medical meetings that occur before (one month or more) an article’s publication in NEJM, a sponsoring company may:

• Post slides that were shown at meetings (and no more) on their website following the presentations.
• Issue brief press releases (sometimes called a “curtain-raiser”) about the presentation, stating only that a study met its primary or secondary endpoint and making no mention of NEJM.
• Hold satellite (sponsored) symposia at medical meetings if a study was included in an SEC-required press release or previously presented at a medical meeting. There should be no references to the manuscript’s status with NEJM.

However, if NEJM is publishing to coincide with a meeting presentation, sponsoring companies should not promote the study.

NEJM editors consider novelty when making manuscript decisions. If substantial publicity for a study occurs before or during the peer-review process, priority for publication could be affected. The more said in a press release prior to publication, the greater the negative impact may be on priority for publication.