Connect with Us
602 Park Point Drive, Suite 225, Golden, CO 80401 – +1 303.495.2073
© 2023 Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS). All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Elevate Submission Guidelines
Elevate – Author & Submission Guidelines
version August 2022
Elevate’s purpose is exactly as the name suggests – to elevate the Medical Affairs (MA) professional, guiding and inspiring, challenging and promoting excellence, and provoking the necessary expansion of organizational capabilities to build upon the value of Medical in unprecedented ways. Published in online format by the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Elevate focuses on sharing insights and best practices from organizations across the globe who are dedicated to becoming a best-in-class Medical Affairs organization, so that MA professionals can learn from each other and improve or expand their own organizational capabilities. Through well-researched, well-written, timely and informed content, Elevate will better enable the MA Community to raise the standards for Medical Affairs, together.
Elevate Article Submission Guidelines
Many Elevate articles are produced through the MAPS Focus Area Working Groups. (If you are a FAWG member with an idea for an Elevate article, please discuss this with your FAWG lead/s.)
However, you are not required to be a MAPS member to be published. If you are not a MAPS FAWG member, please start by submitting a proposed article title and abstract of no more than 150 words to gsundem@medicalaffairs.org. The MAPS Editorial Board will discuss your abstract submission and notify authors within 7-10 days as to acceptance, rejection, or requested revision. Abstract acceptance does not guarantee article acceptance. The MAPS organization reserves the right to make independent editorial decisions.
Successful abstracts commonly speak to one of the following subject areas:
- Capabilities
- Compliance
- Digital Strategy
- Evidence Generation: Payers/HTA or HCPs
- External Education
- Field Based Medical/MSL
- Insights (e.g., from Advisory Boards, MSL interactions)
- Medical Communications (e.g., Scientific Com Platform/Pubs/Congress Planning)
- Medical Information
- Medical Strategy & Launch Excellence
- Medical Technology (Devices & Diagnostics)
- Patient Centricity
- Rare Disease/Gene Therapy
After receiving abstract acceptance, non-MAPS FAWG authors should organize Elevate article submissions in the following order:
Title Page: This should contain the complete title of the article, the names, titles, and affiliations of all authors, the organization at which the work was performed, the name, address, telephone number, and email address for the corresponding author, and a short form of the title, not more than 40 characters, to be used as a running head. Authors should clearly state their disclosures. Authors contributing to the article but not meeting the criteria for authorship defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors may be acknowledged as non-author contributors.
Abstract: This should be a condensation of the entire work, including a statement of its purpose, a clear description of any metrics, and a concise presentation of the conclusions.
Key Words: Supply a list of three to six key words (not in the title) that will adequately index the subject matter of the article.
Text: Your article should be in English, single-spaced and formatted in 12-point Calibri font. It must be written in a manner that will permit the reader to understand easily what was done, the reason for it, and the conclusions drawn from the work. Use subheadings and paragraph titles whenever possible. Define abbreviations initially, placing the acronym in parenthesis immediately after the term. Provide the full URL for any websites referenced. Elevate articles should be at least 1,800 words, with no maximum length.
Legends & Illustrations: Figures, tables and illustrations are encouraged. If used, a descriptive legend must accompany each illustration so that it can be understood apart from the text, and must define all abbreviations used therein. Illustrations may be embedded in the text and free of copyrighted illustrations of any kind including but not limited to data, graphs and photographs.
Photos: Use of photos is permitted and encouraged. If submitted images include photos of organizational team members, leaders, or facilities, please include a statement that appropriate permissions were obtain from image subjects to include in this publication. High quality photos should be submitted as separate .jpg files, and filename of image should be placed in the appropriate location in the text.
Priority for Digital-Enhanced Proposals: Elevate strives to provide an enhanced digital experience for the community. As such, articles may also be distributed in, or supplemented with, a non-traditional publication format, including video interviews or video-recorded expert panels, interactive graphics, or podcast (audio-only) formats. If submitting your proposal as digital-enhanced, please describe your intended format and the anticipated duration of the final product. A transcript may also be produced of any video/podcast formats.
Article Types: Please review previously published Elevate articles to shape the content and style of your submission. Elevate articles generally fall into one of the four following categories, though authors need not specify their intended category. Submissions beyond these four types are encouraged and will be considered based on the value provided to a Medical Affairs audience.
- Best-in-Class Features: Best-in-Class features are original publications examining best-in-class practices from Medical Affairs organizations. Submitted features should describe a specific case example(s) that demonstrate the organization’s efforts to become, or sustain itself as, a best-in-class Medical Affairs organization.
- Concise Reviews: The purpose of a Concise Review is to provide Medical Affairs professionals with a clear and up-to-date concept of a subject of current interest. It should be very informative, thoroughly referenced, and easily readable. Concise reviews often provide foundational knowledge for early-career professionals, MA professionals transitioning into new roles, or others seeking basic knowledge of the capabilities, roles, structures and activities of MA.
- Benchmarking Reports: Benchmarking reports may be published in Elevate provided they have not been previously published elsewhere. Proposal abstracts for benchmarking reports should include the need and purpose of the study and the intended demographics of the survey respondents. Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate the potential ability to inform on and improve a specific competency for Medical Affairs organizations. Accepted proposals will have access to survey the MAPS Community and ability to distribute the survey to over 25,000 Medical Affairs professionals globally. MAPS will distribute all surveys, at the organization’s discretion.
- Journalistic Features: Feature articles use research and interviews (and rarely, relevant personal experiences) to examine current issues and trends in the Medical Affairs profession. While remaining informative, a journalistic feature may be more narrative in its approach. These features must remain focused on delivering valuable knowledge, practices and competencies to Medical Affairs professionals.
Editorial Board Review: Upon submission of completed article, articles submitted to Elevate will undergo Editorial Board review prior to publication. The MAPS Editorial Board reserves the right to accept, reject, or accept articles pending revisions.
Editorial Policies: All articles submitted to Elevate must be submitted solely to this publication, may not have been published in any part or form in another publication of any type, professional or lay, and become the property of the publisher (MAPS). Subsequent to Elevate publication, authors may submit independently for publication in other outlets. It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure data integrity, validity and accuracy of all submitted content. The MAPS organization reserves the right to accept or reject proposed abstracts and articles.
Open Access to Content: There is no subscription fee nor subscription requirement to access Elevate. All Medical Affairs professionals and the public have open access to Elevate content 24/7 once published. MAPS membership is not required.
General Inquiries: Please contact: gsundem@medicalaffairs.org