The JIMD is the official journal of the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism, SSIEM. By enhancing communication between workers in the field throughout the world, the JIMD aims to improve the management and understanding of inherited metabolic disorders. It publishes results of original research and new or important observations pertaining to any aspect of inherited metabolic disease in humans and higher animals. This includes clinical (medical, dental and veterinary), biochemical, genetic (including cytogenetic, molecular and population genetic), experimental (including cell biological), methodological, theoretical, epidemiological, ethical and counselling aspects. The JIMD also reviews important new developments or controversial issues relating to metabolic disorders and publishes reviews and short reports arising from the Society's annual symposia. A distinction is made between peer-reviewed scientific material that is selected because of its significance for other professionals in the field, and non-peer-reviewed material that aims to be important, controversial, interesting or entertaining.

The JIMD welcomes scientific contributions in the following categories:

• Original articles: Research papers that may be expected to influence or change clinical or research practice with regard to inherited metabolic disorders.
• Reviews: Concise summaries of metabolic pathways, specific disorders, methods, treatment options etc.
• Metabolic dissertations: Summary of research carried out for a doctoral thesis in the area of inherited metabolic disorders, written by a single author, published with photograph.
• Short reports: Short articles that are relevant to clinical or research practice and should be documented in the literature. Short Reports are published as abstract only, with the full text available via the internet.
• Data reports: Tabulated information or data that do not fulfil the quality criteria of scientific original articles but should be made available to others by deposition on the website.
• Images in Metabolic Medicine: Illustrative colour pictures e.g. of clinical findings.
• Correspondence: Comments to previous articles or other relevant topics.

All authors are invited to provide a colour picture that may be used for the front cover of the issue in which the article appears.

For the non-peer-reviewed section, the JIMD invites submission of Editorials (comments that place JIMD articles into a wider context, usually provided by reviewers of this article), Observations and Opinions (relevant or stimulating opinions or ideas that merit communication), Fillers (interesting stories or personal experiences) and Book Reviews. In addition, the JIMD wishes to publish Obituaries of all recently deceased members of the SSIEM and other persons that were important in the area of inborn metabolic disease.

Full instructions to authors are available online and are printed in the first issue of each.