Published: 2026-10-30 | Publisher: Future Journals — the official publishing platform of The Future Association
Medicine and public health work on the same problem from different distances. A clinician studies what helps patients in a clinic or hospital. A public health researcher studies what helps a whole community stay healthier in the first place. Both kinds of evidence matter, and both need a clear home when published, so the right readers can find and use them.
That is why Future Journals publishes two distinct health titles: The Future of Medical Science (ISSN 2693-1885 / 2693-1907) and The Future of Public Health (ISSN 2694-3395 / 2694-3409). This spotlight explains what each title is for, what fits each one, and how to choose between them.
1. The Future of Medical Science: evidence from care and clinical research
The Future of Medical Science is the natural home for work centred on patients, diagnosis, treatment and clinical practice.
Studies that may fit here include, for example:
- Case reports and case series that document an unusual presentation, a diagnostic challenge or a treatment response clearly enough for other clinicians to learn from it
- Clinical studies comparing treatments, procedures, devices or care pathways in a defined patient group
- Diagnostic studies that evaluate how well a test, score or imaging approach identifies a condition
- Laboratory and translational work that is directly tied to a medical question, with its clinical relevance explained
- Reviews that synthesise clinical evidence on a focused question and state their search and selection methods
Whatever the design, be exact about who was studied, what was done, and what was not done. State the setting, time period, eligibility criteria and number of participants. Report ethics approval and consent where required, following the publication ethics guidance linked from the submission portal. Do not generalise from a single centre, a small sample or a short follow-up to all patients everywhere. If your work is a protocol or a preliminary analysis, say so — a clearly labelled early report is useful; the same report presented as a definitive result is not.
2. The Future of Public Health: evidence from populations and prevention
The Future of Public Health is for work centred on populations, prevention and the systems that shape health at scale.
Studies that may fit here include, for example:
- Surveys and epidemiological studies describing the distribution of a health condition, behaviour or risk factor in a defined population
- Intervention studies in schools, workplaces, communities or health services, where the unit of change is a group rather than an individual patient
- Health-services and policy evaluations that examine coverage, access, uptake or equity — who is reached, who is missed, and why
- Environmental and occupational health studies linking an exposure in a community or workplace to health outcomes
- Reviews and analyses of prevention programmes, screening uptake, vaccination coverage or health communication, with methods stated clearly enough to be checked
Public health papers live or die on definitions. Define your population, denominator and time frame. If you report a rate, say what it is a rate of, and over what period. If you use routinely collected data, describe its source and its limits. A finding that 40% of respondents reported something is different from 40% of a whole population experiencing it — keep that distinction visible. The same precision applies to equity: if you can show results by age, sex, place or another relevant grouping, report them; if you cannot, note that as a limitation.
3. Choosing between the two titles
Some studies sit near the boundary. A hospital-based study of infection control, for instance, could be written as a clinical paper about patients, or as a public health paper about a prevention system. Use these questions to decide:
- Who is the primary reader? If a practising clinician should act differently after reading it, lean towards The Future of Medical Science. If a programme manager, policymaker or community health team should act differently, lean towards The Future of Public Health.
- What is the unit of study? Individual patients and clinical outcomes point one way; populations, coverage and community outcomes point the other.
- Where does the conclusion apply? A conclusion about treatment in a defined clinical setting belongs with the medical title. A conclusion about prevention, access or population risk belongs with the public health title.
Choose one journal and submit there only. Never submit the same manuscript to two journals at the same time. If, after reading the scope and the author guidelines linked from the submission portal, you are still unsure, choose the title whose readers are most likely to use your findings — that is the test that matters most.
Health researchers whose work does not fit either title should still look across the wider list. Future Journals publishes 18 open-access journals in total, as the official publishing platform of The Future Association, and states editorial boards of more than 1,000 researchers and more than 100 disciplines on its main site. Life-science foundations may fit The Future of Biology (ISSN 2572-3006 / 2572-3111) or The Future of Bioscience (ISSN 2694-3131 / 2694-314X), and interdisciplinary health-technology work may fit The Future of Applied Science (ISSN 2767-181X online / 2767-178X print) — provided the emphasis of the paper genuinely matches that journal’s readers.
4. Writing a health manuscript that reviewers can trust
Four habits strengthen almost every medical and public health submission:
State the design in the first paragraph of the methods. Cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, trial, case series, qualitative — name it. A reviewer who cannot tell what kind of study this is cannot judge whether the analysis fits it.
Report numbers, not just judgements. Give sample sizes, response rates where relevant, main outcomes with their measures, and the comparison behind any claim of difference or improvement.
Separate results from recommendations. Your data may show an association in one population at one time. A recommendation for other populations is an inference — label it as such, and bound it by your limitations.
Be transparent about ethics, funding and conflicts. Follow the publication ethics page linked from the submission portal, disclose funding and competing interests as the guidelines require, and do not omit a limitation because it is inconvenient. Transparent papers are easier to review, easier to trust and easier to build on.
Before you submit, re-read your title and abstract as a busy clinician or programme manager would: do they state the population, the design and the main finding accurately, in under a minute? If not, revise them first — they are the part of your paper most people will actually read.
5. How to submit to either title
The submission route is the same for both journals. Future Journals is an open-access publisher, so a published article is freely available online to any reader, with no subscription or paywall.
- Prepare your manuscript in Word (.doc/.docx) or PDF, following the author guidelines for your chosen journal, linked from the submission portal.
- Read the pages linked from the portal on publication ethics, peer review and article processing charges (APCs). This post does not quote APC figures or turnaround times, because those are stated on the journal’s own pages and may change.
- Submit through the online submission portal, which provides a step-by-step guide, and complete the author details requested there.
- Keep your submission for one journal only, and wait for that journal’s editorial process before submitting the work elsewhere.
Manuscripts must be original, unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between The Future of Medical Science and The Future of Public Health?
Medical Science centres on patients, diagnosis, treatment and clinical practice. Public Health centres on populations, prevention, access and the systems that shape health at community scale. Choose by your primary reader and your unit of study.
Are both journals open access?
Yes. Future Journals is an open-access publisher, so published articles in both titles are freely available online to readers worldwide.
What file formats can I submit?
The submission portal accepts manuscripts in Word (.doc/.docx) and PDF, and provides a step-by-step submission guide.
Can I submit the same paper to both journals to increase my chances?
No. Submit to one journal only, and do not submit work that is under consideration elsewhere. Choose the title whose readers will use your findings most.
Where do I check ethics, peer review and APC information?
On the pages linked from the submission portal for your chosen journal. Read those pages directly, as they carry the current requirements.
Share clinical and population evidence where its readers will find it
Good health research only changes practice when it reaches the people who can act on it — clinicians at the point of care, and public health teams at the scale of a population. Publishing in the title that matches your study is the first step towards that reach.
Submit your manuscript here: https://home.futurejournals.org/future-journals/submission-portal/
Browse all 18 Future Journals titles: https://www.futurejournals.org
