journal-of-clinical-investigation
Journal of Clinical Investigation (journal-of-clinical-investigation)
Journal positioning
The Journal of Clinical Investigation is published by the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is the flagship venue for disease-mechanism research that bridges fundamental biology and human medicine. JCI's defining editorial DNA is mechanism-of-disease with direct human or translational relevance: papers must deliver a clear mechanistic insight into a disease process — not merely a correlation or an association — and must ground that insight in human clinical samples, genetics, imaging, or biomarkers, with animal or in vitro models providing mechanistic depth rather than serving as the primary evidence. JCI occupies a distinct tier below the broad-significance bar of Nature Medicine or Cell but above society clinical journals; its readership is physician-scientists and translational researchers across all disease areas.
This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing tool. It does not replace the journal's current official submission guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the ASCI / JCI platform.
When to trigger
- The author names JCI or the ASCI as the target venue for a disease-mechanism or translational manuscript.
- A mechanistic study of a disease process needs venue selection between JCI, Science Translational Medicine, and Nature Medicine.
- A paper with strong human-data primary evidence and mechanistic animal or in vitro support needs framing guidance.
- The author needs JCI's specific desk-reject risks and a ranked alternative-venue list before submitting.