A peer-reviewed publication format for compact original research findings, particularly in clinical and applied fields, with tight word and figure limits, used for results that warrant rapid or focused communication of a single result or small study.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A 1,500-word brief report in Annals of Internal Medicine describing the validation of a new clinical score in 300 patients

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A case report on a single patient is not a brief report (it is a case report)

Editorial commentary

Brief reports are closely related to short communications and research letters; usage varies by journal. The format is common in clinical journals (Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine) for single-finding clinical studies. Distinct from a case report by reporting aggregate or systematic findings rather than a single case.

References

Annals of Internal Medicine Brief Report Instructions
JAMA Internal Medicine Brief Report guidelines

Also known as

Brief paper · Short report

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Brief report"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/brief-report" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/brief-report",
  "name": "Brief report",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/brief-report",
  "description": "A peer-reviewed publication format for compact original research findings, particularly in clinical and applied fields, with tight word and figure limits, used for results that warrant rapid or focused communication of a single result or small study.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-outputs#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/brief-report",
  "sameAs": [
    "Brief paper",
    "Short report"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:05:32",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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