Enacted: September 30, 1999
Most recent revision: March 31, 2025

The Korean Medical Education Review (KMER) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Yonsei University College of Medicine. The journal focuses on pedagogy, humanities, and social science topics in health care provider education. The purpose of the journal is to improve the quality of education by developing a theoretical foundation and sharing practical experiences in the education of health care providers. It is published 3 times a year (February 28, June 30, and October 31). When submitting a manuscript to KMER , the following guidelines must be taken into consideration. If the manuscript does not meet the requirements of these instructions, it may be returned, or the review may be delayed.

Table of contents

• • General Guidelines
• • Copyright and Creative Commons Attribution License
• • Self-Archiving
• • Research and Publication Ethics
• • Manuscript Submission and Evaluation
• • Detailed Instructions on Manuscript Writing

General Guidelines

1. Manuscript Content and Type

The journal publishes research articles, review articles, scholarly perspectives, innovation reports, editorial comments, expert opinions, book reviews, learning materials, healing narratives, students’ opinions, essays, letters, and scholarly videos.

• 1) Research articles collect and analyze data using methodologies such as surveys, interviews, or experiments.
• 2) Review articles collect, organize, and analyze the results of previously published studies or articles. The journal publishes two types of review articles.
  • (1) Review articles: These manuscripts summarize research trends, major issues, and theoretical debates, and propose future research directions.
  • (2) Scholarly perspectives: These manuscripts provide in-depth analyses and novel interpretations of specific topics. They are commissioned by the editorial board, which invites experts renowned for their outstanding scholarly work in the field.
• 3) Innovation reports introduce new and innovative educational programs and teaching methods at universities and other educational institutions. They aim to demonstrate the effects and implications of these innovations in practice.
• 4) Commentaries include two types of manuscripts.
  • (1) Editorial comments: These manuscripts are written by the editor and address the editorial intent of a special topic, the main issues covered in invited articles, and directions for future development.
  • (2) Expert opinions: Manuscripts in which experts in the field share their views on a specific topic, addressing current trends, controversial issues, future prospects, and more.
• 5) Book reviews introduce readers to valuable books related to medical education, summarize their main contents, and discuss their significance and applications.
• 6) Learning materials cover various resources that can be used in medical schools or to train healthcare professionals, including teaching methods, assessment tools, and other instructional materials.
• 7) The healing narrative is a manuscript that shares personal stories from medical education and clinical practice, including concerns as an educator and insights gained from patient relationships. It goes beyond simple case reports to provide reflection on disease and healing, focusing on the deeper meaning of medical education and clinical experience. It may also include various literary and artistic forms, such as essays, poems, letters, and drawings.
• 8) Students’ opinions, essays, and letters: These manuscripts enable students to share their experiences in medical education and healthcare settings, including reflections on their learning process and related suggestions. They may be written in a free format and can discuss personal reflections, medical experiences, and challenges in the educational process. Additionally, they may address not only academic topics but also healthcare professional identity, ethical dilemmas, and personal growth throughout the learning process.
• 9) Scholarly videos are video content that enables researchers, educators, and students to share academic discussions in a more intuitive and dynamic way. These videos serve as independent academic materials published on the journal’s website. They may include scholarly discussion videos in which invited authors in a Special Section engage in discourse on a particular topic.

2. Qualifications and Requirements for Manuscript Submission

Researchers around the world with an interest in topics related to health care provider education are invited to submit their manuscripts. PhD degree holders in related fields and faculty members of higher education institutions can be the first author or the corresponding author. When the manuscripts are invited by the editorial board or when the editorial committee approves, an author or authors who do(es) not meet the above criteria can be the first author or the corresponding author.

3. Language

Manuscript should be submitted in Korean. If an article is submitted in English, a certificate of English editing should be provided to the editorial board. Even if the manuscript is written in Korean, the title, name of the author(s), affiliation(s), abstract, keywords, tables, figures, and references must be written in English. Technical terms in Korean should be drawn from Medical Terminology published by the Korean Medical Association, or Medical Education Terminology, published by the Korean Society of Medical Education.

Copyright and Creative Commons Attribution License

KMER follows the Creative Commons Attribution Non- commercial License for public use. The Yonsei University College of Medicine owns the copyrights of all manuscripts published in the journal. It also holds the rights to publish, distribute, and process online and offline media. The first author must sign and upload the copyright transfer agreement when publication is finalized. No manuscripts are returned once submitted.

Self-Archiving

Authors of individual articles can post and archive articles after they are published in KMER for self-archiving purposes. However, when doing so, the ‘copyright and Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercials License’ policy of KMER must be explicitly marked. Authors can not publish pre-print articles such as drafts and articles in the editing process.

Research and Publication Ethics

Ethical regulations include research performance probity, research result publication procedure ethics, and researchers’ responsibility to maintain fidelity to these ethical codes. The journal follows the regulations set by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors, and does not publish articles involving research misconduct. Moreover, incidents related to research misconduct, plagiarism, and duplicate publication are evaluated and handled following KMER’s ethical regulations.

1. Misconduct

• 1) Articles associated with the following types of misconduct should not be submitted or published:
  • (1) Forgery: creating, recording, and reporting non- existent data or research results.
  • (2) Falsification: fabricating research content and procedures, and changing or omitting content and research results.
  • (3) Plagiarism: stealing others’ ideas, procedures, results, or records without justification. Self-plagiarism is defined as publishing part of an article or an entire article that has been published in the past by the author without citing an accurate source or citation.
  • (4) Absence of quotations or references: citing or referring to scholarly data without stating the origin of the data.
  • (5) Undeserved authorship: not granting authorship to a person who contributed to the research content or results, or granting authorship as a sign of gratitude or respect to a person who did not contribute to the article.
  • (6) Duplicate publication: Divide the content of the same category academically from the same research work into multiple papers (salami publication) or publish a new paper by adding research subjects or some results to an already published paper (imalas publication).
• 2) Processing misconduct
  • (1) Information provision and deliberation request: The informant may provide information in writing or by e-mail to the KMER, and the information provision should always be provided in the real name.
  • (2) Investigation and deliberation: ① The editor-in-chief is in charge of receiving and processing reports of misconduct. The Editor-in-Chief shall conduct the preliminary investigation into received misconduct, and if it is determined that there is a problem, the editor-in-chief shall convene the Research Ethics Committee to conduct the main investigation. ② The guidelines of the Ministry of Education and the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors shall apply to matters concerning the preliminary investigation and the main investigation.
  • (3) Guarantee of opportunity for clarification and protection of confidentiality: ① The editorial board shall notify the researcher who is reported as violating the ethics regulations and give sufficient opportunity for clarification. ② The investigation process and the results shall not be disclosed until the deliberation and resolution on whether or not the misconduct is completed so that the honor or rights of the investigated party are not infringed unfairly.
  • (4) Follow-up action: Follow-up actions based on the results of misconduct investigations will be determined by the editorial committee in accordance with the Guidelines for Securing Research Ethics of the Ministry of Education and the Good Publication Practice Guidelines for Medical Journals of the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors.

2. Authorship

Authorship is based on 1) substantial contributions to the conception, research design, and the analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors must meet conditions 1, 2, and 3. All contributors who do not meet these criteria for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgments.

3. Conflict of Interest Statement

The corresponding author must report all conflicts of interest to the editor, including financial support from and connections with pharmaceutical companies, political pressure from interest groups, problems involving scholarly connections, consultancy fees, and stock. Conflicts of interest arise when the authors or the institutions associated with the authors receive continuous financial support from specific agencies, companies, or organizations, or when the authors publish results that are supported by direct research funding.
For a related person to be listed as a co-author of an article, he or she must have clearly contributed to the research and writing of the article. The “Pre-disclosure form when writing a manuscript with a related person” should be submitted and the editor should be notified that a related person has participated as a co-author. Related persons include minors (under the age of 19) or extended family members. If research misconduct by a related co-author is confirmed, the misconduct of the related person is notified to any relevant institutions (schools to which the related person is applying for admission, research institutions, etc.) where the related person has received benefits. Other matters related to conflicts of interest should follow the “Recommendation to prevent unfair authorship in research papers” (revised on April 10, 2020).
In addition, the authors should report any employment, advisory roles, stockholding, lecture or consulting fees, paid testimony, sponsor roles, access to materials, and corporate sponsorship of research. Equipment support or other forms of support must also be reported. The role of the person who sponsored the project and whether the sponsor participated in the research process should be disclosed and described in accordance with the above guidelines regarding the definition of authorship. If the sponsor was not involved in the procedure, he or she must report it accordingly. In particular, authors should not sign an agreement according to which a sponsor who can potentially receive benefits could interfere with the author’s rights during manuscript writing. Regardless of sponsorship, at least one of the authors should have full access to the research material. The details of the grants received for the research should be provided in accordance with the detailed guidelines for manuscript preparation. If any of the conflicts of interest described above arise, authors must submit a conflict of interest form signed by all authors.

4. Subject or Experimental Animal Rights Statement

All research on humans must conform to the ethical standards set by the Declaration of Helsinki (http://www.wma.net). The approval of the institutional review board of the research site is also necessary for clinical trials. All animal testing must be appropriate, based on experimental animal use and management regulations set by the institution or national law. It should also follow the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm).

5. Consent Form Statement

Researches on students must receive students’ written consent and institutional review board approval. This information must be provided in the text. Photographs and explanatory data must not contain students’ name, initials, or students’ numbers. If necessary, the editor or reviewer will ask for this information.

6. Reflection of Gender Innovation Policies

It is recommended that articles published in this journal follow the guidelines on gender innovation policy (Sex and Gender Equity in Research, http://gister.re.kr).

Manuscript Submission and Evaluation

1. Manuscript Submission

Authors should submit their manuscripts using the online submission system (http://submit.kmer.or.kr). The journal accepts manuscripts on an ongoing basis and evaluates them chronologically. However, manuscripts that do not follow journal submission guidelines will be returned to the authors. Along with the online submission of a manuscript, the authors must also submit a conflict of interest form, a self-certification that they have followed research ethics regulations, a self-completed checklist of research ethics, and a pre-disclosure form when writing a manuscript with a related person (if applicable).

2. Publication Fee

If a manuscript is accepted, there is a standard publication fee. If the publication fee is not paid, the publication will be cancelled. The publication fee is shown in the journal homepage and online submission system.

3. Request to Avoid Potentially Hostile Reviewers

Authors can request to avoid specific reviewers at the submission stage in advance if it is difficult to expect a fair review for personal or academic reasons. The editorial board assigns reviewers considering the authors’ request.

Detailed Instructions on Manuscript Writing

1. Preparing a Manuscript

Manuscripts must be on A4-sized (210×297 mm) paper with 25-mm margins on each side, 10-point font size and double-spaced lines (200%), and should be saved as .docx or .pdf. Manuscripts can be written either in Korean or in English. Chinese characters or the original language can be written inside brackets following the words, and the original language can be used when there is no corresponding Korean expression. When using a foreign language, the usage of uppercase and lowercase letters should be correct (for example, the first letter of proper nouns, names of persons, and places should be in capital letters and the remaining letters in small letters.) Names of persons, places, and other proper nouns should be in the original language, numbers in Arabic numerals, and units in the metric system. Page numbers should appear in the lower center position starting from the cover page.

2. Manuscript Content Order

The manuscript file must include the following items in order. Research articles follow the order of title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, and tables or figures. Review articles, short communications, and innovation reports follow the order of title page, abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, references, and tables or figures. Opinions follow the order of title page, main text, and references. Book review and learning materials follow the order of title page and main text. Each section should be on a separate page. When outline numbering is necessary in the body, the following system is used.

Text numbering system
  Methods
    1., 2., 3., 4.,
      1), 2), 3), 4),
        (1), (2), (3), (4),

3. Title Page

The title page must contain the title, authors, and affiliations both in Korean and in English. The title should be concise, but with enough appropriate words to represent its content. Abbreviations should not be used, and the length should be 40 characters or less in Korean or 15 words or less in English. When there are two or more authors, their names should be listed and separated with a comma (,) based on their contribution to the research and manuscript writing. When the affiliations of the authors are different, each affiliation should be written in the order of first author and co-author, and should be numbered using superscripts. The name, affiliation, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author should be indicated at the bottom of the title page. At the time of submission, the corresponding author should be able to communicate regularly with the Editor-in-Chief.
At the bottom of the title page, the authors’ contributions should be outlined, and the types of contribution made by each author should be described briefly. For example, “the first author, Kim OO, participated in the experimental design and data analysis; the second author, Park OO, originated the basic concept, designed the research, and wrote the manuscript.”
Acknowledgments should be included. In other words, any person or organization that contributed to the research but does not meet the criteria authorship should be indicated in the acknowledgments with a clear description of the contribution. If nothing is applicable, write “None.”
The Open Researchers and Contributors ID (ORCID) of all authors should be provided for researcher identification, such as https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8534-5985. An ORCID number can be obtained free of charge at https://orcid.org. Any research grant along with the research grant number should be indicated. If nothing is applicable, write “None.”
Stakeholder declarations related to the research should also be specified. If nothing is applicable, write “None.”

4. Abstract

The abstract should be written in English, concisely and clearly. It should be between 200 words and 250 words in length. The abstract should be written in a single paragraph in a narrative format. At the bottom of the abstract, between 3 and 5 keywords should be listed in alphabetical order. The keywords should be found in the National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html) and should be capitalized. Words used in the title should not be included in the keywords.

5. Structure of the Main Text

Each manuscript should follow the basic structure below, with some details varying by manuscript type. The total length of each manuscript must comply with the designated word count limit (excluding references). If a manuscript exceeds this limit, prior consent from the editorial board is required.

• 1) Research articles: up to 5,000 words
  • (1) Introduction: This section presents the theoretical and research background, recent research trends, the rationale for the study, and the research questions. It should not include any study results or conclusions.
  • (2) Methods: The research design, study population and sampling methods are described, as well as the research instruments and measurement methods. This section should contain sufficient detail to allow reproducibility.
  • (3) Results: The findings should be presented clearly according to the methods used. Tables and figures may be included if needed, but redundant text descriptions should be avoided.
  • (4) Discussion: This section analyzes the significance of the findings and compares them with previous studies. It may also include the study’s limitations and directions for future research.
• 2) Review articles: up to 5,000 words
  • (1) Introduction: This section describes the theoretical background or research background, recent research trends, the necessity of the study, and the research questions.
  • (2) Main body: The main body provides comprehensive review and analysis of existing research results. The method of literature search and analysis should be described.
  • (3) Conclusion: This section summarizes the results of the literature analysis and presents the implications of the study along with suggestions for future research directions.
• 3) Scholarly perspectives: up to 5,000 words
  The discussion should focus on the researcher’s academic interpretation of a specific topic. Although the structure may include an introduction, body, and conclusion, a flexible format is acceptable.
• 4) Innovation reports: up to 3,000 words
  • (1) Introduction: The introduction should describe the necessity and background of the innovation in medical education, the purpose of implementing it, and any relevant recent research.
  • (2) Body text: The body text should provide a detailed description of the innovative educational program or teaching methods, including development and implementation processes, key findings, and outcomes. The text may also include challenges and solutions encountered, as well as the theoretical basis for the innovation.
  • (3) Conclusion: The conclusion should summarize the results of the innovation and discuss its effectiveness, limitations, potential improvements, and applicability in educational contexts.
• 5) Expert opinions: up to 2,000 words
  These manuscripts offer a critical analysis and academic discussion of a specific topic or set of research findings. While the format may be flexible, it must follow a coherent logical structure.
• 6) Book reviews, Learning materials: up to 1,000 words
  These manuscripts need not be divided into introduction, body, and conclusion unless necessary, and they may be written in any format without strict structural requirements.
• 7) Healing narratives: up to 3,000 words
  Students’ opinions, essays, letters: up to 1,500 words
  These manuscripts can be written freely without formal restrictions.

6. References

• 1) All references listed at the end of the manuscript should be written in English in the order of citation following the Vancouver reference style as below. For complete citation guidelines, authors should refer to Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine).
• 2) References should cite the recent literature. The number of references in research articles and opinions should be limited to 30 or fewer, and review articles do not have any limitations.
• 3) References at the end of the manuscript should all be cited within the text.
• 4) When citing a reference inside the text, the number should be put in square brackets (e.g, []) in the last sentence of the cited text. When there are multiple references, each should be separated with a comma. When there are multiple consecutive references (e.g., [2,5,7], [2-5,7,10]), a hyphen (-) should be used. These numbers should match the numbers of the references.
• 5) If the number of authors of a given source in the references is 6 or fewer, all names should be given. If there are 7 or more authors, write only the names of the first 6 authors, and shorten the rest by using “et al.” Authors’ names should be written with their last names first followed by the first letter of their names capitalized.
• 6) When citing references inside the text, the author’s name and the reference number should be indicated in the reference. If there are two authors, “and” should separate the authors’ names. When quoting more than 3 authors in the text, use “et al.” (e.g., Jones [10] asserts that…, according to Smith et al. [3])

(1) Journal Article
The title of the journal should be abbreviated following the National Center for Biotechnology Information Database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals) of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. For indexed journals, the corresponding abbreviations should be used. For non- indexed journals, the abbreviation or journal name as set forth in the journal should be used. Only the first letter of the title should be capitalized.

Lee YH. Enhancement of professionalism in medical education. Korean Med Educ Rev. 2012;14(1):11-8.

Fan VY, Lin SC. It is time to include compassion in medical training. Acad Med. 2013;88(1):11.

Gilbert DG, McClernon JF, Rabinovich NE, Gugai C, Plath LC, AsgaardG, et al. Effects of quitting smoking on EEG activation and attention last for more than 31 days and are more severe with stress, dependence, DRD3 A1 allele, and depressive traits. Nicotine Tob Res. 2004;6(2):249-67.

(2) Book
Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 4th ed. St. Louis (MO): Mosby; 2009. 541 p.

(3) Book Chapter
Gunderman RB. Philosophical considerations in educational assessment. In: Hibbert KM, Chhem RK, van Deven T, Wang S, editors. Radiology education: the evaluation and assessment of clinical competence. London: Springer; 2013. p. 49-54.

(4) Proceedings
Tai MC. The importance of medical humanities in medical education. Proceedings of Korean Society of Medical Education Academic Symposium; 2010 Jun 17; Cheju, Korea. Seoul: Korean Society of Medical Education; 2010.

(5) Thesis
O’Brien KA. The philosophical and empirical intersections of Chinese medicine and western medicine [dissertation]. Melbourne: Monash University; 2006.

(6) Web material
Brudney K, Rothman D. Medical and Western civilization [Internet]. New York (NY): Institute on Medicine as a Profession; 2008 [cited 2017 Jan 10]. Available from: http://www.imapny.org/our-publications/educational-tools-and-resources.

Song SC. Why the resident shortage? [Internet]. Seoul: Doctor’s News; c2014 [cited 2016 Dec 15]. Available from: http://www.doctorsnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=100776.

(7) If the reference is written in a language other than English, the reference information should be translated into English and the translated title should be written in square brackets. At the end of the reference, the language should be indicated, with only the first letter capitalized.

Shaha M, Rabenschlag F, Holzer R. [Lowering stress levels in the workplace]. Krankenpfl Soins Infirm. 2005;98(4): 10-3,40-3,62-5. French, German, Italian.

(8) If the reference is written in Korean and it does not have an English translation, the information regarding the reference (including the title of the article, publisher name, publishing institution, etc.) should be romanized.

7. Tables and Figures

• 1)Tables and figures should be clear and concise and must be cited in the text. When citing tables and figures in the text, they should be indicated as Table 1, Figure 1, and so forth.
• 2)A table is described as Table 1, and a picture or a figure is described as Figure 1, and the title of a table or a figure should be in the form of clauses or phrases. The title of a table should be left-aligned, and the title of a figure should be left-aligned to the bottom of the figure. Vertical lines should not be used in the table, and abbreviations should be explained at the bottom of the table. When using annotations, use a), b), c) ... as superscripts and explain them at the bottom of the table. The title and the description of a figure and a chart should be clearly understood without reference to the text. All abbreviations used should be defined in a footnote and be placed below the table.
• 3) Tables and figures are converted to black and white when printed, unless requested by the author. The financial costs of color printing will be borne by the author. When graphs are printed in black and white, it is recommended to use slashes or other shapes to indicate distinct sets of data, rather than colors, to improve readability. Figures or photographs should be submitted as TIF, PPT, or JPG file types and must have a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch (dpi). The image dimensions should be set to 80 mm×160 mm.
• 4) If tables and figures need to be described in Korean, they should be included in the appendices. At this time, appendices should be cited in the text. When citing an appendix, it should be referred to as the “Appendix.” When there are many appendices, they should be classified as Appendix 1, Appendix 2, and so forth. The title of appendices should be written in Korean.
• 5) Statistical descriptions such as standard deviation and standard error should be expressed as mean ± SD, mean ± SE. The significance of p-values is indicated by * in the tables, and the significance level of the p-value should be indicated below the tables. For example: p<0.01, p<0.05.
• 6) Tables and figures should be inserted independently in separate pages at the end of the manuscript.

8. Errata

When there are errors in the published papers, errata will be published in the next issue.

Please refer to the website of the Korean Medical Education Review (www.kmer.or.kr) for submission guidelines for manuscripts written in Korean or English, instructions for authors, and ethics guidelines. All other items not specified in the guidelines of KMER will follow the decisions made by the editorial committee.

Theses manuscript regulations are effective on March 31, 2025.

Editorial Board of Korean Medical Education Review

Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea
Tel: +82-2-2228-2514 Fax: +82-2-364-5450 e-mail: office@kmer.or.kr