Fight Medicine Journal
Fight Medicine Journal is the official publication of Fight Medicine Research Institute. It is a separate body with its own publisher, its own editors and its own governance.
Visit the journalSubmit a manuscript
Both buttons open the journal’s own website, fightmedicine.org.
What the journal is
The journal describes itself in these words:
Fight Medicine Journal is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the safety, health and long-term survival of combat sports athletes.
It publishes original research, reviews, case reports, operational protocols and policy analysis on ringside and event medicine, athlete mental health, and the long-term neurological health of fighters, including traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The journal says that contributions are welcomed from “physicians, allied health professionals, researchers, referees and regulators.”
The journal at a glance
Each line below is what the journal states on its own website, read on 12 November 2026. The journal’s website is the authority on all of them.
- Peer review
- “Manuscripts undergo double-anonymous peer review.” The journal’s peer review policy adds that every published research article is assessed by at least two independent reviewers. Peer review policy
- Access and licence
- “All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence; authors retain copyright and no fees are charged.”
- Identifiers
- “The journal is a member of Crossref through its publisher; every article receives a Crossref DOI, participates in Crossmark, and is preserved in the PKP Preservation Network.”
- Standards
- “The journal adheres to the ICMJE Recommendations and the COPE Core Practices.”
- Published issues
- The journal’s home page says: “The journal is accepting submissions for Volume 1.” On 12 November 2026 its current-issue page said: “This journal has not published any issues.” Current issue page
How the journal and the Institute are related
The relationship is set out in the Institute’s adopted policy, quoted here:
Fight Medicine Research Institute is the founding academic affiliate and sponsor of Fight Medicine Journal, the official publication of Fight Medicine Research Institute.
Fight Medicine Journal has its own publisher, an Alabama limited liability company. Academic affiliation and sponsorship by Fight Medicine Research Institute do not transfer publishing ownership or editorial authority to Fight Medicine Research Institute.
Separate governance
The journal and the Institute are two bodies. Each has its own decision-makers, and neither directs the other.
| Question | Fight Medicine Research Institute | Fight Medicine Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Governed by | Its Research Governance Board. People & Board | Its Editor-in-Chief and editors, under the journal’s own governing arrangements. Journal editorial roster |
| Decides | The Institute’s research strategy, policies, projects and its own publications. | What the journal accepts, rejects, sends for revision and publishes. |
| Published by | The Institute publishes this website. | Its own publisher, a separate company. |
| Rules | Governance & Ethics | The journal’s publication ethics |
The Editor-in-Chief and properly delegated journal editors hold editorial authority under the journal’s own governing arrangements.
Fight Medicine Research Institute’s Board, Director, Founder, researchers, advisers, sponsors and other representatives must not demand acceptance, favorable review, a particular conclusion, expedited publication or suppression of a finding because of their institutional position or support.
Public rosters must distinguish Fight Medicine Research Institute’s Research Governance Board from the journal’s editorial board. A research appointment does not automatically confer editorial authority, and an editorial appointment does not automatically establish an author’s research contribution.
People who hold roles in both
Casey C. Sears is Founder of Fight Medicine Research Institute, Editor-in-Chief of Fight Medicine Journal and owner of the journal’s publisher. John Parris and several other members of Fight Medicine Research Institute’s Board also hold journal editorial roles. Shared appointments must be disclosed and managed; they do not themselves establish editorial independence.
The relationships are listed under Disclosed interests.
Read the journal
The journal is open access: articles are free to read on the journal’s website, without an account.
- Fight Medicine Journal: home pagehttps://www.fightmedicine.org/index.php/fightmedicine
- Current issuehttps://www.fightmedicine.org/index.php/fightmedicine/issue/current
- Archive of issueshttps://www.fightmedicine.org/index.php/fightmedicine/issue/archive
- Editorial rosterhttps://www.fightmedicine.org/index.php/fightmedicine/about/editorialMasthead
Submit a manuscript
Manuscripts are submitted on the journal’s website, to the journal’s editors. Fight Medicine Research Institute does not receive, review or decide on manuscripts for the journal.
- Read the journal’s submission requirements and author guidelines.
- Log in or register on the journal’s website. The journal requires an account to make a submission.
- Submit through the journal’s submission form. The journal says no fees are charged.
Submit a manuscriptContact the editorial office
Manuscripts from the Institute
Authors affiliated with Fight Medicine Research Institute receive no preferential treatment. The journal applies its published submission, ethics, reporting and review requirements.
Because people at the Institute hold positions at the journal, a manuscript from them is covered by the journal’s policy on submissions by editors and the publisher: an independent handling editor, open peer review, and publication of the reviewer reports and decision letter.
Publication in Fight Medicine Journal does not by itself make an article an official statement, endorsed clinical guideline or policy position of Fight Medicine Research Institute.
Read the full policy: Official Publication Affiliation and Editorial Independence