Call for Papers | 2025 Student Paper Contest

Announcement posted 4/26/24

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) welcomes submissions from high school, undergraduate, graduate, and recent postgraduate students, and medical students and residents for PCD’s annual Student Paper Contest. PCD is interested in publishing papers relevant to the prevention, screening, surveillance, and population-based intervention of chronic diseases, including but not limited to arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and COVID-19 and chronic conditions. The journal is also interested in research examining the role that social determinants exact on health, including the less explored determinant of racism.

For 2025, the Student Paper Contest collection will also include a special section, “Students Have Their Say: Novel Approaches and Solutions to Current and Emerging Public Health Problems,” featuring student essays. For more information on eligibility and requirements, see PCD’s Announcements page.

Contest Goals

• Provide applicants with an opportunity to become familiar with a journal’s manuscript submission requirements and peer-review process
• Assist applicants to connect their knowledge and training on conducting quality research with a journal’s publication expectations
• Develop applicants’ research and scientific writing skills to become producers of knowledge in addition to consumers of knowledge
• Provide applicants with an opportunity to become first author on a peer-reviewed paper
• Promote supportive, respectful, and mutually beneficial author―mentor relationships that result in strengthening applicants’ ability to generate and submit future scholarly manuscripts

Eligibility

• Student applicants must be currently enrolled in a high school, undergraduate, graduate, or medical degree program. Postgraduate applicants must have received their graduate or medical degree within the past 12 months and be participating in a medical residency, postdoctoral fellowship, or similar training program under the supervision of a mentor, advisor, or principal investigator.
• Applicants should meet the standard to serve as first author. The first author is the person who conducted or led the topic being presented and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. The first author ensures that all other authors meet the criteria for authorship (Editorial Policy).
• Applicants and coauthors are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards in scholarly work (Editorial Policy).
• Applicants (not mentors) must serve as the corresponding author. No exceptions.
• Manuscripts must report on research done while the corresponding author was a student in an eligible student category.
• The research must have been completed within the last 12 months.
• Manuscripts must not be published previously or submitted elsewhere for publication.

Cover Letter

At the time of submission, applicants must submit a cover letter indicating their interest in being considered for the Student Paper Contest. This cover letter must include:

• Name and contact information of the student’s advisor.
• Current level of academic enrollment: high school, undergraduate, graduate or medical degree, or applicable postgraduate residency, fellowship, or other training program.
• All required disclosures (funding, conflicts of interest, and use of copyrighted material).

Learn more about general cover letter requirements on PCD’s How to Submit a Manuscript page. 

Letter of Recommendation

At the time of submission, applicants must provide a letter of recommendation from their advisor confirming the following:

• The student’s enrollment in a degree program or the postgraduate candidate’s residency or fellowship
• The research was conducted while in training under the advisor’s supervision
• The applicant conceptualized the analysis and was the primary author of the manuscript
• No one other than the applicant can serve as corresponding author

Deadline
The deadline to submit a final manuscript is 5:00 PM EST on Monday, March 24, 2025. PCD requires a cover letter from the corresponding author of every paper submitted to the journal. Student corresponding authors are required to submit a cover letter indicating they (and their coauthors, if applicable) are currently matriculated in school. The letter must also identify educational level (high school, undergraduate, graduate or medical student, recent postgraduate, or medical resident), area of study (major), and minor (if applicable).

Manuscript Review Process

• Not all manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo peer review. The Editor in Chief determines which manuscripts advance to peer review on the basis of fit, quality, and available human capital to handle submission volume.
• The decision-making process to identify which manuscripts will advance through the various stages of review is lengthy; applicants and advisors must have patience.
• An applicant receiving comments and suggestions on a manuscript does not mean the manuscript will be accepted for publication.
• Applicants interested information the status of a submission during the review process are encouraged to contact the journal. Such inquiries should come directly from the student applicant serving as corresponding author.

Recognition for Winners in Each Category

• Acknowledgment in the Editor in Chief’s editorial
• Special promotion on the journal’s social media platforms
• A podcast discussion the article
• Potential selection as a peer reviewer to determine next year’s winner

About the Journal
PCD is a peer-reviewed public health journal published by CDC and authored by experts worldwide. PCD was established in 2004 by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion with a mission to promote dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide on the integration and application of research findings and practical experience to improve population health. PCD has a current Impact Factor of 5.5 (2022) and is ranked 21st of 180 journals in Journal Citation Reports. For more information about the journal, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/pcd.

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