If you're early in your research journey and are primarily in a clinical rotation, a case report is often the best place to start. It's focused, approachable, and can usually be written in a few weeks. Unlike larger studies that require months of data collection and statistical analysis, a case report captures a single, interesting patient encounter that offers a lesson worth sharing.

It's also one of the few forms of research that can realistically go from idea to publication in just a few months. Let's walk through what that process looks like and how to keep it on track.

How Long It Takes: About 2–3 Months

Most case reports take between two to three months from start to submission. The pace depends on how quickly you write, how responsive your co-authors are, how familiar you are with the journal process, and how unique the case is and how likely it is to get published.

Here's what that journey typically looks like in real life:

• Case Identification (Days to Weeks)
  You notice something that makes you pause — a rare presentation, an unexpected outcome, or a diagnostic twist. That moment of curiosity is where most case reports begin. But here's the catch: identifying a case that's actually publishable is the most difficult part of the entire timeline.
• ‍Literature Review (1–2 Weeks)
  Once you think you've found a publishable case, you'll spend a week or two digging into the literature. Has this been reported before? What's already known? Your goal is to confirm that your case adds something new. This step is critical and should ideally happen before you actually write the paper.
• ‍Journal Selection (A Few Hours)
  Before you start writing, find a journal that will accept case reports. You can write a case in any number of ways, but you'll end up going back and having to redo almost all of your work once you find a journal that wants it formatted in a certain way. For your sake, it's easier to find the journal before you start writing.
• ‍Writing and Drafting (1–2 Weeks)
  Once you have the journal target, the formatting requirements, and the case, the actual writing piece should not take very long. Most of the time it's written like a typical progress note that you would actually write in medical documentation. The only difficult part is doing some sort of literature review or evidence review to make sure that your recommendations are correct in the parts of the paper where you need citations.
• ‍Co-Author Review (1–2 Weeks)
  Once your draft is complete, you have to circulate it with your co-authors. This is usually one of the more time consuming steps unless you have a really fast mentor or co-author. Ideally you try to get it to them as fast as possible and as quickly as possible from when you talked about writing the paper. Quick turnaround times is a really powerful thing to do both from a speed perspective and also from a credibility standpoint. People who are able to submit something within a couple of days after they've committed to doing something are really well thought of in the eyes of mentors. It shows a lot of follow-through and a lot of commitment.‍
• Submission (About 1 Week)
  Once you've gone through the editing and revising phase with co-authors, then you're talking about submitting it. Hopefully because you've been formatting it along the way you should not actually have much difficulty submitting it. It might take an hour or so of your time to actually figure out how to make an account and then submit it and make sure all the authors are in correctly, but the actual submission process is pretty quick. Then the waiting begins, and this can be highly variable.

Phase 1: Spotting a Publishable Case

The actual mechanics of a case report are not that challenging. The difficult thing is to identify a case that comes your way that is actually publishable.

You'll usually find your first case report during a rotation or clinical elective — a patient whose presentation makes you curious. Maybe it's a rare disease you've only seen in textbooks, or a treatment that produced an unexpected outcome.

There are a number of different journals that will publish case reports, but usually the case has to be unusual enough or have sufficient teaching points that it warrants someone reading it. Not every case that comes across your way is publishable. As a trainee, oftentimes bread and butter cases may be the first time you've seen it and so you feel the case is novel, but it's actually a very common thing that is seen throughout.

The key question to ask yourself is: what will someone else learn from this case?

• If it challenges common assumptions, that's worth writing about.
• If it illustrates a diagnostic pitfall, that's valuable too.
• Even if it's not groundbreaking, it might still highlight a useful clinical lesson.

When in doubt, run your idea by your mentor. Experienced clinicians can instantly tell if a case is likely to be accepted.

Phase 2: Confirming Novelty

The way that you can find out if it's publishable is by doing a literature review. You'll want to spend time probably before you actually write the paper to look to see if anything has recently been published on this particular disease. You also want to see if the clinical presentation brings in unusual features or unusual signs that may not be common in a typical presentation for the disease.

The other thing that you want for sure is to be able to have definitive evidence using a gold standard diagnostic tool by the end. Most case studies I've seen fail because there's a presumptive diagnosis made without any confirmatory pathology or lab testing. It really weakens the diagnosis and the case report if there's not actually any diagnostic finality.

It is common for you to write a case but find it difficult to actually get it published given how common the case is or how not definitive it is.

Phase 3: Ethics and Approvals

One of the biggest advantages of a case report is that it usually doesn't require full IRB approval. That makes it accessible even if you don't have institutional research support.

Still, there are a few boxes to check before you publish:

• Patient consent: If there's any chance the patient could be identified, written consent is required.
• IRB exemption: Some institutions require a quick submission just to confirm exemption — check your local policy.
• De-identification: Remove names, dates, and details that could identify the patient.

Doing this early keeps the process smooth later when you're ready to submit figures or imaging.

Phase 4: Writing and Revising

Writing your first case report is part science, part storytelling. You're turning a real-world encounter into a concise teaching piece.

A strong structure makes this easier:

• Abstract: A short summary of the case and its key takeaway.
• Introduction: One or two paragraphs on why this case matters.
• Case Presentation: The clinical narrative — what happened, step by step.
• Discussion: What others can learn, backed by literature.
• Conclusion or Learning Points: One or two practical takeaways.

Send it to your mentor early and often — they'll catch details and phrasing that can make the difference between a rejection and an acceptance.

Phase 5: Choosing the Right Journal

Not all journals accept case reports, and this is where many trainees lose time.

Look for journals that:

• Regularly publish case reports (e.g., BMJ Case Reports, Cureus, Journal of Medical Case Reports).
• Match your specialty or subspecialty focus.
• Offer transparent publication timelines or student-friendly policies.

Spend an hour skimming a few recent case reports from your target journal. It's the fastest way to understand their tone and structure. Once you've found the right journal, you're ready to submit.

Tips to Keep Your Timeline on Track

You'll move faster if you treat the project like a short rotation, with clear weekly goals:

• Start writing while the details are still fresh in your mind.
• Set realistic deadlines for your co-authors — and follow up politely.
• Use citation software from day one (Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote).
• Collect patient images and data early to avoid last-minute delays.

The best case reports are the ones that actually get finished. Don't aim for perfection — aim for progress.

How Case Reports Compare to Other Study Types

Case reports are the short sprint of research. You can complete one in a couple of months, while other projects stretch into the next academic year.

To put it in perspective:

• Case Report: Usually 2–3 months — fast, feasible, no IRB required.
• Database Study: Around 3–6 months — quick start but heavier analysis.
• Chart Review: 8–12 months — lots of coordination and IRB work.
• Prospective Study: 18+ months — major commitment, not ideal for beginners.

If you're on a tight schedule before residency or fellowship applications, a case report is your best shot at a publication that demonstrates scholarly activity and clinical insight.

The Bottom Line

Case reports are the most accessible entry point into academic publishing. They're compact, manageable, and rewarding. You'll learn how to structure a paper, navigate peer review, and communicate clinically relevant findings—all while completing a project you can actually finish.

With focus and consistent writing, you can turn an interesting patient encounter into a published paper in just a few months. And within our Research Timeline Series, all timelines refer to the journey from idea to submission—the part of the process you can fully control before peer review begins.

Once you’ve mastered that first case report, you’ll have the foundation to take on more complex studies—like database or chart review projects—with confidence and momentum.

Next in the series: Database Study Timeline: How Long It Takes to Submit an NHANES or Retrospective Data Study.