Brief educational reports: a new manuscript category.

In this issue of CJEM, there is an updated version of the Instructions to Authors. Included with the update is the introduction of a new submission category: the Brief Educational Report. In a July 2010, editorial, there was a challenge to the Canadian emergency medicine (EM) community to share its education innovations. The challenge was to increase not only education research— the discovery of answers to education-based questions using the scientific method—but also education scholarship. The latter involves the dissemination (for peer review) of a line of inquiry, new perspective, new application, or innovation that builds on current evidence, theoretical frameworks, or best practices in education. Scholarship is a key step in preventing the endless duplication of education resources and programs between centres, unaware of what their peers have accomplished or rejected. The wheel has been invented; we should stop trying to reinvent it! This distinction between research and scholarship may seem arbitrary to the reader (scholarship includes research—discovery—but also integration, application, and translation of education ideas), but it is significant to many potential authors. Although (education) researchers are uncommon, in some ways, all of us are educators. Not all of us practice EM in a teaching hospital with responsibility for medical students, residents, or other health profession learners. However, we are all involved in the ongoing learning required of our profession. For example, knowledge translation (the dissemination of research findings into the clinical setting) is simply education with a fancy name, yet it is essential for our clinical practice to evolve. The introduction of a Brief Educational Report opens a new avenue for all of us to share the innovations that advance the teaching of EM. For some time, the editorial board has sought to balance the competing needs of CJEM between publishing original research and the promotion of best practices in EM education. This new submission category effectively addresses this challenge. Brief Educational Reports are ‘‘original scholarly submissions that are not original research but do discuss educational advances in emergency medicine. Authors should define how the submission is innovative, builds on existing literature and adds to the scholarship of education.’’ (Further details can be found in the Instructions to Authors.) All submissions will be peerreviewed. The editorial board is not seeking descriptions of educational resources or programs. Rather, we are seeking innovations that build on existing literature, theories, or best practices and advance EM education. ‘‘Mikey likes it’’ may be a great cereal catchphrase, but it is not a phrase to be associated with the description of a publication. Rather, we want to hear how our EM educators are moving the bar forward and how those innovations have improved not only the learning environment but also the final ‘‘product’’: a better physician and improved patient outcomes. We are excited about the possibilities of this new section and look forward to your submissions.