JAMA Surgery Health Services Research Manuscript Training Program

The goal of the Surgical Outcomes Club (SOC) – JAMA Surgery Health Services Research (HSR) Manuscript Reviewer Training Program is to provide an avenue for graduating trainees and early career surgical investigators to be effective reviewers of research papers under the guidance of prolific and experienced mentors and advisors.

Program Highlights

One-year training program for graduating trainees* and early career surgical investigators.
Up to 3 applicants will be accepted each year
Applicants will work with SOC board members who will serve as their mentors and consultants for each monthly review.
Applicants will learn how to effectively review a research paper under the guidance of their mentor
The program is of no cost to the applicant
Applicants will become reviewers for JAMA Surgery at successful completion of the program*

*Only faculty are eligible to be peer reviewers for JAMA Surgery. Graduating trainees will need to be appointed faculty before they can be peer reviewers.

Objectives

Upon completion of the program, fellows will be able to:

Upon completion of the program, applicants will be able to:
Understand the peer reviewer’s tasks and responsibilities
Learn how to detect bias, confounding and other weaknesses within research methodology
Gain skill in developing a respectful critique that improves the manuscript
Understand how to determine if a manuscript should be accepted, revised, or rejected
Understand the publication process including submission, review, revision, publication, and dissemination

Program Expectations

Participate in monthly sessions with assigned mentor and review the SOC-JAMA Surgery methodology series https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/pages/statistics-and-methods and discuss reviewed manuscripts.
Review a minimum of 8 manuscripts within the 1 year training program
Have 1 formal didactic session with editor(s) from JAMA surgery to understand editorial process
Reviewers in training will have 1 week to complete review and then 1 week for mentor to put together the review for JAMA Surgery. Mentor is responsible for timely submission of review to JAMA surgery
Reviewers in training must commit to confidentiality of all the materials they review for JAMA Surgery

Who May Apply

Members of the Surgical Outcomes Club who are in their final year of training in a surgical specialty or early career surgical investigators within their first five years of completing training in a surgical specialty or are members of a surgical department may apply to this fellowship.

Application Process

Applications for the 2026–2027 cycle will open in March 2026.

Applicants must submit the application form along with the following:

Current copy of your curriculum vitae
A one-page statement of interest, including:
- Prior and/or current activities with publishing, writing, or editorial experience
- Letter of support from department chair/division chief for those who have completed training or from the program director for those who are still in training.