General Information
Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine publishes original contributions of literary and artistic merit that relate to the theory and practice of narrative medicine. Please see specific guidelines on different categories. Intellectual property rights are retained by the author but accepted work will be copyrighted by Intima and may be reprinted in part or whole at the discretion of the Editors in future publications either online or in print. While the copyright remains with the author or artist, we ask that individuals notify us when an accepted work will be published elsewhere and include the note "First published in Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine. www.theintima.org.
We do not welcome simultaneous submissions, previously published work or work published on a personal blog.
Patient Privacy Notice
Intima adheres to legal and ethical guidelines in accordance with academic and health community publication standards. As clinicians, patients, and family members, we feel strongly that patient privacy and confidentiality should be maintained at all times. We simultaneously recognize that narrative power depends on intimate, singular encounters and the sharing of personal accounts in a respectful and safe environment. To maintain these standards, contributors should review the confidentiality guidelines in the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), with particular attention to the 18 commonly accepted "unique identifiers." We also encourage contributors to seek permission before submitting patient stories, and to fictionalize or change identifiable information whenever possible and appropriate to maintain patient confidentiality and privacy. Please contact theintima@gmail.com with any further questions or concerns.
How to Submit
Any quotations or citations should follow MLA style formatting. Manuscripts and media should be submitted online via Submittable. The comments section of the submission form should contain your name, contact information, word count, and any contextual information you'd like us to know or that you'd like published alongside the piece. The manuscript itself should not include the author's name or other identifying information.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) file; media should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, or MP3 format. We accept work that adheres to a genre-specific word count and page limits as specified in our guidelines, as well as artwork and multimedia. No more than two (2) submissions per genre per review period will be considered, except in the Poetry category where up to three (3) submissions are allowed. More detailed submission guidelines can be found below.
NOTE: In order to cover our website and Submittable costs, a $7.50 per submission fee will be charged for each work submitted. All money earned will go to the monthly fee to keep our website up and running and to our submission platform, Submittable, that allows us to efficiently read, comment, connect and respond to the writers, academics, artists and multimedia artists who submit and contribute work. We appreciate your support and interest in our journal.
If you have any additional questions, please email theintima@gmail.com
Non-Fiction submissions should demonstrate clinical resonance from a personal, familial, or professional perspective and be written in a strong literary voice. While non-fiction pieces may likely contain a personal opinion or anecdote, or be written as an essay, they should highlight a particular event, time period or sequence of events experienced with a clear narrative arc. Submissions may be excerpts of a longer work, and should be no more than 2,500 words.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name. REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
How to Submit
Any quotations or citations should follow MLA style formatting. Manuscripts and media should be submitted online via the Intima online manuscript submission and review system. The comments section of the submission form should contain your name, contact information, word count, and any contextual information you'd like us to know or that you'd like published alongside the piece. The manuscript itself should not include the author's name or other identifying information.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) file; media should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, or MP3/MP4 format. We accept poetry and prose works (genre specific word count and page limits apply), as well as artwork and multimedia. No more than two (2) submissions per genre per review period will be considered, except in the Poetry category where up to three (3) submissions (submitted separately, as each piece is reviewed on its own) are allowed. Review the detailed submission guidelines for each category described below, then click the SUBMIT button on the top left hand corner of our guidelines page to enter your work.
NOTE: The manuscript and file should not include the author's name or other identifying information. Before you submit your entry, make sure all identifying signatures have been removed from the document. Do not use your name when naming/creating the file or your submissions will be disqualified. When filling out the form on Submittable when submitting, please feel free to use your name and affiliations in the biography section.
Field Notes
Field Notes will include descriptive and narrative essays that highlight first person accounts from clinicians, patients, healthcare professionals and caregivers. These works should be of an anecdotal nature, which describes self-reflection and experiential knowledge or changed perspective acquired through the practice of narrative medicine and/or participation in narrative medicine based workshops. Submissions should be no more than 1,500 words.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name. REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
How to Submit
Any quotations or citations should follow MLA style formatting. Manuscripts and media should be submitted online via the Intima online manuscript submission and review system. The comments section of the submission form should contain your name, contact information, word count, and any contextual information you'd like us to know or that you'd like published alongside the piece. The manuscript itself should not include the author's name or other identifying information.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) file; media should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, or MP3/MP4 format. We accept poetry and prose works (genre specific word count and page limits apply), as well as artwork and multimedia. No more than two (2) submissions per genre per review period will be considered, except in the Poetry category where up to three (3) submissions (submitted separately, as each piece is reviewed on its own) are allowed. Review the detailed submission guidelines for each category described below, then click the SUBMIT button on the top left hand corner of our guidelines page to enter your work.
- NOTE: The manuscript and file should not include the author's name or other identifying information. Before you submit your entry, make sure all identifying signatures have been removed from the document. Do not use your name when naming/creating the file or your submissions will be disqualified. When filling out the form on Submittable when submitting, please feel free to use your name and affiliations in the biography section.
We seek captivating fictional stories with unique literary voices that incorporate themes related to health, illness, medicine and patient-provider experiences. Submissions may be excerpts of a longer work and should be no more than 2,500 words.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name. REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
How to Submit
Any quotations or citations should follow MLA style formatting. Manuscripts and media should be submitted online via the Intima online manuscript submission and review system. The comments section of the submission form should contain your name, contact information, word count, and any contextual information you'd like us to know or that you'd like published alongside the piece. The manuscript itself should not include the author's name or other identifying information.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) file; media should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, or MP3/MP4 format. We accept poetry and prose works (genre specific word count and page limits apply), as well as artwork and multimedia. No more than two (2) submissions per genre per review period will be considered, except in the Poetry category where up to three (3) submissions (submitted separately, as each piece is reviewed on its own) are allowed. Review the detailed submission guidelines for each category described below, then click the SUBMIT button on the top left hand corner of our guidelines page to enter your work.
NOTE: The manuscript and file should not include the author's name or other identifying information. Before you submit your entry, make sure all identifying signatures have been removed from the document. Do not use your name when naming/creating the file or your submissions will be disqualified. When filling out the form on Submittable when submitting, please feel free to use your name and affiliations in the biography section.
Intima welcomes poetry that deals with any aspect along the illness/healing/caregiving continuum. Poems should preferably be no longer than one page in length. Please submit each poem individually--do not submit poems together in one submission or we will decline them immediately. You can submit up to three (3) poems per submission period, but we must repeat again, each poem must be submitted separately via Submittable.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name.
REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
How to Submit
Any quotations or citations should follow MLA style formatting. Manuscripts and media should be submitted online via the Intima online manuscript submission and review system. The comments section of the submission form should contain your name, contact information, word count, and any contextual information you'd like us to know or that you'd like published alongside the piece. The manuscript itself should not include the author's name or other identifying information.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) file; media should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, or MP3/MP4 format. We accept poetry and prose works (genre specific word count and page limits apply), as well as artwork and multimedia. No more than two (2) submissions per genre per review period will be considered, except in the Poetry category where up to three (3) submissions (submitted separately, as each piece is reviewed on its own) are allowed. Review the detailed submission guidelines for each category described below, then click the SUBMIT button on the top left hand corner of our guidelines page to enter your work.
NOTE: The manuscript and file should not include the author's name or other identifying information. Before you submit your entry, make sure all identifying signatures have been removed from the document. Do not use your name when naming/creating the file or your submissions will be disqualified. When filling out the form on Submittable when submitting, please feel free to use your name and affiliations in the biography section.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Our academic submission guidelines have been updated as of August 2025. Review and follow these new, revised guidelines to insure a smooth review process.
Academic
Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine is an open-access medical humanities journal with various submission categories for publication. The academic section publishes a variety of scholarly studies from different fields (e.g., narrative medicine, the medical and health humanities, and graphic medicine), using different methodologies from the humanities and the social sciences. Submissions from social sciences, humanities, and the arts are welcomed as they adhere to rigorous academic and ethical standards for research and stand up to the peer-reviewed process. Submission types include but are not necessarily limited to the following:
- State of the Art Literature Reviews
- Empirical Studies in the Social Sciences and Medicine
- Cultural, Historical, Literary, and Media Analyses
- Autoethnographies and Ethnographies
Submissions should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words including tables, figures, and references set in plain font, sized 12, with 1-inch margins. The formatting of the manuscript follows MLA 9th edition throughout the entire manuscript, not only in the formatting of the bibliography. As a guidance for authors, academic manuscripts, especially in the social sciences, are recommended to include the following components: a) title, b) list of key words (maximum 6), c) abstract, d) introduction, e) literature review, f) data and methods of data collection, g) analysis, h) findings and discussion, i) conclusions, and j) bibliography. Note that although these components may not exactly fit into the template of manuscripts within the humanities, they are expected to provide guidance about basic academic expectations. Then, they can be used creatively.
Abstract. The abstract (between 150-250 words) should follow the title and it summarizes the manuscript’s argument or research questions, methods, and findings. After the abstract, the body of the manuscript should begin with the heading ‘Introduction.’ The use of subheadings is highly recommended. The abstract should not be a literal repetition of what was said in the text.
Introduction. The introduction provides background information about the topic and the aims of the article, leading the reader to the main argument or research questions; it announces the methods that will be used to collect as well as to analyze the data. The introduction may also provide an overview of the manuscript.
Literature Review. The literature review is independent from the introduction. It summarizes previous research about the topic and contextualizes the argument or research question in light of the previous studies. It also justifies the importance or need of the study explaining its possible contributions to furthering knowledge on the subject. However, this point may be resumed and further elaborated in the discussion section.
Data and Methods of Data Collection. The data describes the type of data that will be analyzed in the study, such as interviews, all sorts of narratives, web site pages, literary texts, and others. The methods of data collection describe how the data was collected (e.g., interviewing, ethnography, surveys, social media) and the criteria used for data selection. Examples must be provided in the body of the manuscript and they must be original, that is, not AI generated. Although hyperlinks to videos or other internet sources could be useful, excerpts must be provided in the body of the manuscript or indicated as endnotes. When more than one excerpt is used to illustrate, it is recommended to identify the excerpts by means of letters or numbers. This contributes to clarity.
Analysis. The analytic methods explain how the data has been analyzed, for example, by means of close reading, grounded theory, narrative analysis, statistical analysis, others. The analysis also explains the preference for the selected methods instead of others. The analysis is substantiated with evidence from the data and by means of references to relevant literature. All references are provided in-text and in the bibliography following the MLA 9th edition style.
Findings or Results. After the findings have been summarized, then these are interpreted in connection with the manuscript’s argument or research question. Again, examples can be restated to support the findings and reframed. If numeric or quantitative information is presented in tables, then the information is also later summarized in writing.
Discussion. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed in light of the relevant literature about the topic. It examines the similarities and differences of the findings from the current study with other studies. Discussion for applied pieces may focus more on recommendations for practice. A commentary of the importance of the findings as well as future directions and limitations of the study is appropriate for the discussion section.
Conclusion. The conclusion is not a repetition of what was previously said and it does not introduce new topics or subjects. It restates the manuscript’s claim and the evidence found along with the manuscript’s possible contributions, in a conclusive and specific way.
Bibliography. All citations should use MLA Style Manual 9th edition for formatting, in-text citation rules, and works cited page. Do not use end notes. Footnotes are discouraged. For assistance with MLA style, we recommend Purdue Owl’s MLA resource. Use current US American spelling. Authors may reference the free download of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Authors who do not follow the required style may experience delays in the acceptance process.
Ethical Commitments Research and author ethics are paramount concerns. All submissions should be original. The use of Artificial Intelligence should be properly indicated and the attributions made clear in-text references and in the bibliography. Also, submissions must not be under review at any other journal or published elsewhere at the time of submission for consideration at the Intima. Empirical studies should be approved by the author’s Institutional Review Boards and they must protect the privacy of all participants. Patient privacy as outlined on the journal’s submission guidelines page must be followed.
Peer Review and Publishing Process Submissions go through an identity-hidden, peer-review process. Therefore, all identifying markers, including file names, should be removed from the submission prior to logging in, paying the $7.50 submission fee through Submittable (the submission platform). The nominal fee secures open-access status by covering costs associated with the journal such as the website and Submittable. Intima is committed to a quick turn-around for decisions on acceptance, revise and resubmit, and reject. Typically, the timing between the deadline for submissions and decisions is 3-5 weeks and another 2-3 weeks before publication in the online, open-access journal. Authors must secure permission from the reproduction of any copyrighted image (e.g. image from book, image of a model from a journal article, etc…). NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name.
*Decisions about the submissions fall into the following categories:
- Accepted, or accepted with minor revisions. The manuscript is likely to be published within the same term.
- Accepted with major revisions pending the author’s agreement to revise. The manuscript may not be likely to be published within the same term.
- Not accepted.
All manuscripts will receive comments and feedback regardless of the decision. When resubmitting, authors are expected to explain their acceptance or disagreement of changes in a letter to the editors.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name. REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 15th, 2025.
Intima features audio or visual recordings that explore themes in Narrative Medicine. Please use the submissions form to upload audio recordings as MP3 files. For video submissions, use the MP4 file format. Please contact theintima@gmail.com with questions.
NOTE: Remove all identifying signatures from your submission (name of author, affiliations) and do not include your name in the file name.
REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
Intima welcomes painting, photography or other visual representations of narratives as opportunities to explore boundaries of health, wellness, and the power of telling. Please send images in .jpg, .gif, or .png format only, as.pdf, .psd, .tff, and .doc files aren't web-compatible. File name: Only use letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens in file names. Other characters (like question marks, percent signs, and ampersands) may upload incorrectly or cause unexpected behavior in galleries. File size: When it comes to image size, bigger isn't always better. There is a 20 MB limit on all images, but we recommend you use image files of less than 500 KB for best results.
We allow submissions of more than one image if you are submitting a series of images that belong together under a single title, in a series or connected by a theme. Otherwise: Please do not submit separate works together. No. of images: For a narrative series, we will accept up to 6 images. Color mode: Save images in RGB color mode. Print mode (CMYK) won't render in most browsers. Color profile: Save images in the sRGB color profile. Image width: We recommend uploading images at a width of 1500 pixels
We do not welcome simultaneous submissions, previously published work or work published on a personal blog or website, Instagram or other social media platform. REMINDER: We do not welcome simultaneous submissions and ask that you do not submit your submission simultaneously to other journals before October 1, 2025.
NOTE: DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME ON THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT or ARTWORK. Remove all identifying signatures from the body of the document/art as well as in the file name. YOUR SUBMISSION WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IF YOUR NAME IS ON THE DOCUMENT/ARTWORK or NAME OF THE FILE. However, please feel free to use your name and affiliations in the short biography on the Submittable form.
Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine accepts submissions of book reviews for fiction, non-fiction, academic and poetry books that fall under the umbrella of narratives about illness, health and caregiving. We have seen an uptick in these kinds of books that illuminate the intimate interface between clinicians, caregivers and patients during the clinical encounter. While we are primarily interested in newly published books, we welcome reviews of classic or recent books as well. Book review submissions should demonstrate a familiarity with those already posted on the Intima website in style and tone, and should be no shorter than 500 words but not exceed 1500 words. Our book reviews serve to endorse worthwhile books for the Intima readership to enjoy. We are not looking for critical pans, but welcome critical thinking about books that fall into our narrative focus. The submission process filters through Submittable, an online publishing review service we use. Please include a short biography that describes your qualifications.
Prior to submitting, click on and read Intima’s “Elements of a Book Review."
After our editors have reviewed the submission, you will be contacted about whether and when it will be published on the site. We do not pay for book reviews and reserve the right to edit the piece for clarity. Before it is published, a copy will be sent to you to ensure changes are reviewed. Email us if you have questions or would like to pitch a new book. We will be happy to contact the publisher to send you a review copy before publication. theintima@gmail.com