ACEP Journal Club Primer

Members of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Research, Scholarly Activity and Innovation (RSI) Section are currently compiling the, “Emergency Medicine Journal Club Primer,” edited by Dr. James H. Paxton, MD. Anticipated chapters in the new primer include:

• Chapter 1. The purpose of journal club.
• Chapter 2. How to develop a residency-level journal club.
• Chapter 3. How to select an appropriate article for journal club.
• Chapter 4. How to evaluate the clinical question.
• Chapter 5. How to evaluate the methods section.
• Chapter 6. How to evaluate the results section.
• Chapter 7. How to evaluate the discussion section.
• Chapters 8-10. Common biostatistical concepts and techniques.
• Chapter 11. How to teach using journal club.
• Chapter 12. Evaluating the clinical significance of your journal club article.
• Chapter 13. Communication with patients using evidence-based medicine.

Section Editors for the primer include Chadd Kraus DO, Antony Hsu MD, Charlie Kemmler MD PhD, Mirinda Gormley PhD, and Caroline Wilson.

This primer is the latest in a series of scholarly publications produced by ACEP, already including Introduction to Performing Peer Review of Biomedical Research (2002), Resident Research and Scholarly Activity Primer (2021) and the Exception From Informed Consent (EFIC) Primer (2024).

The Journal Club primer is expected to be published in early 2025, and will include contributions from many experts in the field of emergency medicine (EM) journal club, with special attention to how journal clubs in EM differ from those journal clubs offered in other fields. Members of ACEP who are interested in contributing to this project should reach out to Dr. Paxton by email (james.paxton@wayne.edu) to express their interest, including their academic program affiliation as well as their areas / chapters of interest.