Arthritis And Rheumatology

---
name: arthritis-and-rheumatology
description: Use when targeting Arthritis & Rheumatology or deciding whether a rheumatology/autoimmune-disease study fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the clinical-trial/observational and basic-translational evidence bar, reporting-guideline and registration requirements, ACR/Wiley house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. Venue-fit aid only, not clinical advice.
---

# Arthritis & Rheumatology (arthritis-and-rheumatology)

## Journal positioning

Arthritis & Rheumatology (A&R) is the flagship journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), publishing clinical trials, observational and outcomes research, and basic/translational science across rheumatic and autoimmune/musculoskeletal disease — rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, systemic sclerosis, Sjögren's disease, spondyloarthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, and the underlying immunology and joint/connective-tissue biology. It serves rheumatologists and autoimmune-disease scientists, and expects work that advances disease mechanism or changes how rheumatic disease is classified, treated, or monitored; underpowered single-center series and bench studies with no autoimmune/musculoskeletal-disease anchor are a weak fit. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** aid; it is not clinical or regulatory advice and does not replace the journal's current instructions for authors. Before submitting, re-check the live Arthritis & Rheumatology author instructions.

## When to trigger

- The author names Arthritis & Rheumatology for a rheumatology clinical, observational, or basic/translational study and wants a fit/framing check.
- A study must be re-framed around an autoimmune/musculoskeletal-disease mechanism or a practice-relevant rheumatology question.
- The author is choosing between A&R, a general-medicine or immunology journal, and another rheumatology specialty venue.
- The author needs the journal's reporting-guideline, registration, classification-criteria, and desk-reject expectations.

## Scope & topic fit

- Randomized and pragmatic trials in inflammatory arthritis, connective-tissue disease, and vasculitis, including biologics and targeted-synthetic DMARDs.
- Observational, cohort, registry, and comparative-effectiveness studies with rigorous design and confounding control.
- Disease-classification and outcome-measure development/validation (e.g., classification criteria, response indices).
- Basic and translational immunology and joint/connective-tissue biology with clear autoimmune/musculoskeletal-disease relevance.
- Imaging, biomarker, and prognostic studies with clinically meaningful rheumatology endpoints and a reference standard.
- Osteoarthritis, gout, and bone/cartilage biology with mechanistic or practice advance.

## Method & evidence bar

- Clinical studies must be adequately powered with prespecified, patient-centered primary outcomes; validated disease-activity/response measures are expected, and surrogate-only endpoints need justification.
- The applicable reporting guideline must be followed and its checklist supplied: CONSORT for trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, STARD for diagnostic accuracy.
- Interventional trials require prospective registration; the registration number and protocol/statistical-analysis plan are expected.
- Basic/translational claims need rigorous controls, adequate replication, and validation in patient samples or disease-relevant models, with appropriate immune/joint-assay rigor.
- Classification-criteria and outcome-measure work must follow accepted methodology with derivation and independent validation cohorts.
- Observational and registry analyses must address confounding, channeling/indication bias, and missing data; causal language must match the design.

## Structure & house style

- ACR/Wiley format with a structured abstract; re-check current article types, graphical-abstract requirements, and limits on the live guide.
- The introduction frames a focused rheumatology question and its mechanistic or clinical importance; the discussion states the management, classification, or mechanistic implication plainly and uses current ACR/EULAR nomenclature and criteria.
- Tables/figures follow journal statistical-reporting standards; a CONSORT/STROBE/PRISMA flow diagram is expected where applicable; mechanistic figures must show controls and replication.
- Supplements carry the protocol, full statistical and assay methods, and additional cohorts/analyses.

## Official-submission checklist

- Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the ICMJE/EQUATOR and ACR anchors, then cite the current Arthritis & Rheumatology page you checked.
- Search the live site for "Arthritis & Rheumatology author guidelines" and follow the current ACR/Wiley version.
- Re-check article types, word/figure limits, structured- and graphical-abstract format, and statistical-reporting requirements.
- Confirm trial registration, the reporting checklist (CONSORT/STROBE/PRISMA/STARD), data-sharing statement, and protocol/SAP submission; confirm use of validated outcome measures/classification criteria.
- Re-check IRB/ethics and consent, animal-use approval where relevant, ICMJE authorship and conflict-of-interest disclosure, funding, and AI-use disclosure.
- If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win.

## Pre-submission self-check

- [ ] The study answers a focused rheumatology question with a clear mechanistic or practice/classification implication.
- [ ] The primary outcome is prespecified and patient-centered, using validated disease-activity/response measures.
- [ ] Mechanistic claims rest on adequately controlled, replicated assays, ideally validated in patient samples.
- [ ] The correct reporting checklist (CONSORT/STROBE/PRISMA/STARD) is completed and attached.
- [ ] Trials are prospectively registered with the number in the manuscript; protocol/SAP provided.
- [ ] IRB/consent, ICMJE disclosures, and a data-sharing statement are prepared; current ACR/EULAR criteria are used.

## Common desk-reject triggers

- Underpowered single-center series or registry slices with no mechanistic or practice advance.
- Outcome measures that are not validated, or classification-criteria work without an independent validation cohort.
- Mechanistic claims from one model or cell line with no patient-sample validation and weak controls.
- Missing trial registration, protocol, or the required reporting checklist.
- Observational analyses with inadequate confounding/indication-bias handling or overstated causal claims.
- Basic immunology with no autoimmune/musculoskeletal-disease anchor, better served by an immunology venue.

## Re-routing decision

- Allergy/asthma or type 2 clinical immunology emphasis → `journal-of-allergy-and-clinical-immunology`.
- Practice-changing, broadly significant trial → general medicine (`jama` / NEJM / The Lancet in the natural-science bundle).
- Autoimmune disease with a dominant neurology/CNS focus → `brain` / `jama-neurology`.
- Musculoskeletal imaging where the imaging method dominates → `radiology`.
- Pure basic immunology or matrix/bone biology with no disease translation → a basic-science venue in the natural-science bundle.

## Output format

```text
[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason)
[Target] Arthritis & Rheumatology (ACR)
[Rheumatology tags] <2–3 closest topics, e.g. RA biologic trial, lupus cohort, vasculitis mechanism>
[Study design / reporting guideline] <RCT-CONSORT / cohort-STROBE / review-PRISMA / diagnostic-STARD / mechanistic>
[Method/evidence] <power, validated outcome measure, patient-sample validation, registration>
[Top risk] <the single most likely reason for rejection>
[Official items to re-check] <article type / registration / checklist / classification criteria / ethics / disclosures>
[Re-route suggestion] <if not a fit, a better-matched venue>
```