Table 1: Reasons for rejection of letters to the editor submitted to CMAJ

Go outside the scope of CMAJ (unrelated to contemporary medicine or to any subjects dealt with in the journal) Are too late (submitted more than 2 months after the article appeared in the journal) Are too long (well over the limit of 300 words; in such cases, the author is usually asked to revise the letter so that it meets the limit) Are generally libellous or contain many libellous statements Address topic of which discussion has been curtailed by the editors because, in their judgement, all of the views have been aired and further letters serve no useful purpose Are repetitive of other letters received on the same topic or of previous letters and articles by the same author Contain unpublished case reports or study results Concern an article in another peer-reviewed journal that publishes a correspondence column (in such cases, the author should write the journal in question) Promote an organization, event or product (in such cases, the organization involved should buy an advertisement or ask for a pro bono public service announcement)

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