Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal (CDC EID)

Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) is a peer-reviewed, open-access monthly scientific journal established in 1995 and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dedicated to tracking, analyzing, and reporting novel and re-emerging infectious pathogens worldwide, EID bridges laboratory microbiology, clinical medicine, and field surveillance. For researchers in epidemiological science, EID serves as an essential channel for rapid outbreak investigations, zoonotic transmission data, and global antimicrobial resistance trends.

What it is

Emerging Infectious Diseases was created in response to national and international recommendations recognizing the threat of newly recognized pathogens and the re-emergence of established infectious diseases. Unlike broad clinical medicine periodicals, EID focuses explicitly on factors influencing pathogen emergence, persistence, host jumps, and geographic expansion. The journal operates with full editorial independence under the CDC umbrella: all scientific findings and opinions published in EID represent the conclusions of contributing authors rather than official policy statements of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or the CDC.

A distinguishing characteristic of EID within scientific publishing is its diamond open-access structure. As a publication produced by the United States federal government, material authored by U.S. government employees enters the public domain upon release. EID applies this principle across its entire publication catalog: all content is completely free to read, download, reprint, and redistribute without paywalls or embargos, provided standard scientific attribution is maintained. This operational framework supports global public health practitioners comparing institutional methods through epidemiology and public health surveillance systems.

Who runs it and what it covers

EID is managed by an editorial board of public health scientists, physicians, and medical editors based at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, supported by an international panel of associate editors and peer reviewers. Peer review is conducted independently by external subject-matter experts specializing in virology, bacteriology, parasitology, medical entomology, and mathematical modeling.

The journal’s scope encompasses global infectious disease dynamics across human, animal, and environmental interfaces (One Health). Core coverage domains include:

Novel and Reemerging Pathogens: First-in-human case reports, novel viral strains (e.g., coronaviruses, filoviruses, arboviruses), and newly characterized zoonotic infections.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): Molecular epidemiology of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant bacterial strains, plasmid-mediated resistance mechanisms, and hospital outbreak tracking.
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases: Ecological field surveys, reservoir species identification, and climate-influenced shifts in tick, mosquito, and rodent disease vectors.
Outbreak Investigations and Dispatches: Rapid field communications documenting acute disease clusters, foodborne epidemics, and international border surveillance.
Global Disease Surveillance Systems: Methodological assessments of syndromic surveillance platforms, genomic tracking networks, and integrated laboratory registries.

To deliver this content, EID categorizes submissions into distinct article formats tailored to different scientific needs:

Research Studies: Full-length, empirical scientific investigations presenting original laboratory, field, or clinical epidemiological findings.
Synopses: Comprehensive, critical reviews of emerging infectious disease threats, synthesizing etiology, pathology, diagnostic challenges, and prevention strategies.
Dispatches: Concise, fast-track communications of urgent empirical observations, new pathogen variants, or preliminary outbreak findings (typically capped at 1,200 words).
Perspectives: Scholarly commentaries addressing systemic policy, scientific theory, or historical context surrounding disease emergence.
Letters: Focused clinical or laboratory observations, preliminary field data, or critical responses to previously published EID papers.

How to search or use it

Investigators, research administrators, and infectious disease fellows interact with EID both as consumers of epidemiological literature and as submitting authors. The platform workflow involves the following steps:

Access the EID Journal Portal: Navigate to the official journal portal at wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid. Readers can access current issues, thematic collections (such as COVID-19, Mpox, or Avian Influenza), and full historical archives dating back to Volume 1 (1995).
Search the Article Repository: Use the EID search tool to query by pathogen, geographic region, publication year, volume/issue, or specific article format. Full-text articles are rendered in responsive HTML and downloadable PDF formats.
Consult Author Guidelines and Checklists: Prospective authors must download the official EID Author Checklist and Manuscript Template from the Author Resource Center. These documents outline exact structural requirements, word count restrictions, table limits, and ICMJE reference style conventions.
Prepare Synthesis and Review Manuscripts: Authors conducting systematic reviews or meta-analyses for submission as Synopses must format study selection flow diagrams and risk-of-bias appraisals according to PRISMA guidelines.
Submit via ScholarOne Manuscripts: Create an author profile and submit manuscripts via the EID ScholarOne portal (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/eid). Submissions require an author checklist, structured abstract, running head, one-sentence summary, keywords, first author biography, and corresponding author contact details.
Navigate Zero-Fee Publication: Authors complete the submission without payment gateways. Unlike commercial hybrid journals that assess substantial article processing charges, EID charges zero submission fees, zero page charges, and zero open-access publishing fees.
Utilize Continuing Medical Education (CME): Clinicians and public health professionals can complete accredited CME modules associated with designated articles in each monthly issue via the CDC learning platform.

Strengths and limits

Evaluating EID’s structural model provides clarity on when to target the journal for publication or rely upon it for research synthesis.

Strengths

Diamond Open Access: Unrestricted global reach with zero cost to readers and zero cost to authors, maximizing readership in low- and middle-income countries.
Public Domain Reusability: Because articles are U.S. government publications, figures, disease progression diagrams, and tables can be repurposed in educational resources and clinical protocols without licensing fees.
Rapid Dispatches: The Dispatch track provides an established venue for field epidemiologists to share acute outbreak findings without the prolonged multi-round revisions common in broad biomedical journals.
Global Indexing: Thoroughly indexed across PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase, ensuring high citation visibility.

Limits

Strict Editorial Focus: Manuscripts focusing on routine clinical therapeutics, established localized infections, or non-emerging routine pathogens fall outside the scope and are typically redirected.
High Selectivity and Backlog: As a premier open-access venue with zero fees, EID receives substantial international submission volumes, resulting in competitive acceptance thresholds.
Government Publisher Framing: Authors whose research involves sensitive jurisdictional disputes or contested public health policies must ensure statements reflect personal scientific conclusions to satisfy government publishing disclaimers.

Alternatives

Epidemiologists and biomedical researchers weigh EID against several peer-reviewed infectious disease publications depending on study design, turnaround time, and licensing considerations.

Journal	Publisher / Operator	Publishing Model	APC / Publication Fees	Primary Editorial Scope
Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID)	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)	Diamond Open Access (Public Domain)	$0 (Zero fees)	Pathogen emergence, global surveillance, zoonoses, outbreak dispatches
The Lancet Infectious Diseases	Elsevier	Hybrid / Open Access	Subscription or Commercial APC	Phase III clinical trials, international clinical infectious diseases, therapeutic reviews
Clinical Infectious Diseases (CID)	Infectious Diseases Society of America / Oxford University Press	Hybrid / Open Access	Subscription or Hybrid APC	Clinical practice, treatment guidelines, nosocomial infections, antimicrobials
Eurosurveillance	European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)	Diamond Open Access	$0 (Zero fees)	European surveillance, outbreak rapid communications, communicable disease epidemiology

FAQ

Is Emerging Infectious Diseases a peer-reviewed journal?

Yes. EID uses an independent peer-review system where external scientific and clinical specialists evaluate submissions for methodological rigor, empirical accuracy, and public health relevance.

Does EID charge author processing fees (APCs)?

No. EID does not charge submission fees, page charges, color figure costs, or article processing charges. The journal is funded by the CDC and operates under a diamond open-access publishing model.

Can figures and data published in EID be reused?

Yes. Because EID is published by the U.S. federal government, content authored by government personnel is in the public domain. Text, tables, and figures can be reprinted or reused for academic, clinical, or educational purposes with standard scientific citation.

What is the difference between an EID Research Study and an EID Dispatch?

A Research Study is a comprehensive empirical manuscript with detailed methodology and extensive discussion. A Dispatch is a concise, rapid communication (up to 1,200 words) intended to alert the public health community to new pathogen strains, unusual disease presentations, or acute outbreaks.

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Emerging Infectious Diseases – About the Journal,” https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/about (accessed 2026-11-07).
CDC, “EID Author Resource Center,” https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/pages/author-resource-center.htm (accessed 2026-11-07).
CDC, “EID Types of Articles,” https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/pages/types-of-articles.htm (accessed 2026-11-07).
CDC, “Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal,” https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/ (accessed 2026-11-07).