CARE Checklist for Case Report Manuscripts

Short answer

Use the CARE checklist when preparing a medical case report. A complete case report should identify the article as a case report, explain why the case is educational, present a patient timeline, describe diagnostic reasoning, intervention, outcomes, follow-up, patient perspective when available, and confirm informed consent according to journal policy.

CARE case report checklist areas

• Title includes the clinical focus and identifies the article as a case report.
• Abstract summarizes introduction, case presentation, and conclusion.
• Introduction explains why the case is clinically relevant.
• Patient information includes demographic details, main concerns, history, and relevant clinical findings while protecting identity.
• Timeline organizes key events, diagnostic tests, interventions, and outcomes.
• Diagnostic assessment describes methods, differential diagnosis, challenges, and final diagnosis.
• Therapeutic intervention reports treatment type, administration, changes, and rationale.
• Follow-up and outcomes describe clinical course, adherence, adverse events, and patient-relevant outcomes.
• Discussion explains strengths, limitations, literature context, rationale for conclusions, and key lessons.
• Patient perspective and informed consent are included when required by the journal.

Common case report mistakes

• Publishing an interesting case without a clear teaching point.
• Leaving out the timeline, diagnostic reasoning, or treatment rationale.
• Overstating causality from a single case.
• Including identifiable details without appropriate consent.
• Forgetting to align the abstract and conclusion with the same main lesson.

How SciPaperX helps

SciPaperX can check a case report against CARE expectations, flag missing consent or timeline language, and help rewrite the case presentation so the clinical lesson is clear without overstating the evidence.