Editor’s Note: Please stay tuned for the submission link to the Cadmium submission platform, which will be added here prior to the call launch. (Please do NOT submit your Cover Art through Editorial Manager via the Academic Medicine website.)

Academic Medicine’s 2026 call for submissions for the Cover Art feature will launch on January 12, 2026 and close March 16, 2026!

The journal welcomes original creative works of painting, photography, sculpture, textile work, and other visual media. Priority will be given to those creative works that communicate a theme or message of importance to the field of academic medicine and that will display well visually online.

The journal will consider only original creative work by a single artist. The journal will not consider works generated by AI. (See requirements below.)

Submissions will be evaluated by a panel with expertise in art and medicine. Accepted Cover Art will be published online in Academic Medicine starting in late 2026 and throughout 2027!

The completed AAMC Artist Consent Form is required to be uploaded as part of your submission:

Topic requirements:

• Original works of art inspired by, but not necessarily representative of, an academic medicine experience from any perspective:
  • Teacher
  • Learner
  • Researcher
  • Patient
  • Caregiver

• The artwork must connect directly to one or more of the 5 missions of academic medicine. Priority will be given to pieces that depict or communicate something distinctive about academic settings. Submissions without a clear connection to one of these 5 missions may be disqualified:
  • Research
  • Education
  • Clinical care
  • Community collaboration
  • Leadership

Art file requirements:

• Images generated by an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT) are prohibited.
• High-resolution JPEG files with a minimum of 300 dpi resolution are required at the time of submission.
• Images should be 8.2117” W x 8.2833” H or 592 x 596 pixels. Images may be cropped at the editor’s discretion to fit the cover specifications.
• Image files must be grayscale or CMYK.

Artist’s statement and authorship:

• Artists must submit a related artist’s statement (approximately 250 words) as a narrative companion to the artwork, to explain the connection between the work and the academic medicine experience. Submissions that do not include a statement of at least 100 words will be disqualified.
• Artist’s Statements may have only one author.
• Any use of AI in the writing of the Artist’s Statement must be disclosed at the time of submission. See the journal’s policy on use of AI tools in Academic Medicine submissions.
• Submissions do not require an abstract.

Deadline for submission:

• Submissions must be received between 9AM ET on Monday, January 12, 2026 and 5PM ET Monday, March 16, 2026. Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered.

Submission limit:

• One artist may submit up to 3 images (each piece should be submitted as a separate Cover Art submission with its own artist’s statement).

Expected timeline for notifications:

• Decisions will be sent between May and June 2026.

Please follow us on BlueSky (@acadmedjournal.bsky.social),  X (@AcadMedJournal), and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/academic-medicine-journal) for further information about this call for Cover Art.

If you have questions, please contact us at academicmedicine@aamc.org. We cannot wait to see your submissions!