A CARE case report template for Notion, item by item

See inside the CARE Case Report Builder

The problem it solves

First case reports tend to come back for the same few reasons: no timeline, or one written in real dates; no patient perspective; a vague consent statement. None of these is about clinical skill.

The CARE guideline exists to fix this (Gagnier et al., 2013; Riley et al., 2017): 13 items, with sub-items, from the title to the timeline, the patient perspective and informed consent. But a checklist filled in at the end tends to be ticked from memory, not checked against the draft.

Then there is identifiability. The risk is rarely a name. It is a combination: an age, a job, a town, a rare condition and a date that together point to one person. Real dates are the easiest to remove, and the most often left in.

This studio has you record the case in relative days from the start, track each CARE item as you write it, and clear consent and identifiability before the draft is called ready.

How it works: Map → Write → Clear

1. Map

   Choose a Day 0, for example the first dose of a new drug, and add one row per event in days from it, never a calendar date. A check flags any text that looks like a year or a month name.

2. Write

   Work through the 30 CARE items in checklist order. Each one is linked to the manuscript section where you write it. Mark it Drafted, then Done, and note where in the draft it sits.

3. Clear

   Record which consent form was signed and where it is filed, tick the four identifiability checks, and say why the case is worth reporting. The Readiness line then moves on to your remaining CARE items.

What the studio checks for you

Formulas turn what you enter into plain-language statuses. These are the main labels.

Readiness, on the report (checked in this order)

• ⚪ Not started: link the CARE items: the report has no CARE items linked yet.
• ⛔ Blocked: consent not documented in the form the journal requires: no consent form chosen, the box not ticked, or no real text saying where it is filed.
• ⛔ Blocked: identifiability check incomplete: fewer than four of the identity boxes are ticked.
• ⛔ Blocked: a timeline entry looks like a real date: at least one linked timeline row is flagged.
• ⚠️ State why this case is worth reporting: no reason picked, or no real learning point written.
• 🟠 Waiver: most journals and ICMJE expect consent from the patient or next of kin; keep the journal written agreement on file: you chose a waiver. A waiver never reaches green.
• 🟡 Drafting: 80% of applicable CARE items done: the safety steps are clear; the percentage is your progress.
• 🟢 Ready for final author check against the journal instructions: every applicable item Done. It means ready for your own final check, not accepted.

Checks on the CARE items and the timeline

• ⚠️ Say why in Where in draft: an item is marked Not applicable without a reason. Until you give one, it still counts as not done.
• ⚠️ Looks like a date: use relative days: the timeline row contains a four-digit year or a month name.

Counting only Done items towards the percentages is a GradSummit convention, and the studio says so. The date check is a heuristic: it catches years and month names, not every way a date can be written, so re-read the timeline yourself.

The worked example

Fictional study

The worked example is fictional: a Mercy General case of a man in his late 60s with heart failure who develops lip and tongue angioedema on Day 41 of sacubitril/valsartan, a known but uncommon effect. It has 1 report, 30 CARE items (24 Done), 11 manuscript sections, 8 timeline events from Day −2 to Day 90 and 4 literature rows, which are placeholders to replace with your own search. Consent is recorded and all four identity checks are ticked, so Readiness shows 🟡 Drafting: 80% of applicable CARE items done. Clearing the example takes a few minutes.

Method and sources

The studio follows the CARE guidelines: the consensus checklist (Gagnier et al., 2013) and its explanation and elaboration document (Riley et al., 2017). The item labels are short paraphrases; the method page links to the official checklist at care-statement.org so you can check the exact wording before you submit. Consent and de-identification follow the ICMJE Recommendations on protecting research participants.

The method page shows how the steps map to CARE (the timeline is item 7, consent item 13) and how Readiness is decided. For a suspected adverse drug reaction, it asks you to state how you assessed causality, for example with the Naranjo scale (Naranjo et al., 1981).

What the studio does not do

• It does not verify consent. It records that you say consent was obtained and where the form is kept. Keep the form itself in your organisation's records, never in Notion.
• It does not judge causality or guarantee acceptance.
• It is not a records system or a compliance tool. Never enter identifiable patient details.
• The example is fictional and is not clinical guidance.

What you get

• A one-page PDF with your private link, sent by Gumroad straight after checkout. Click it, then Duplicate, and the studio is in your own Notion workspace, yours to keep.
• Simple mode: three steps, one small table each, with a plain instruction above every table. You can start in Notion for the first time today.
• A Readiness gate, CARE coverage by manuscript section, a board of items to finish, a clinical timeline, an is-it-worth-reporting check and a literature comparison table.
• Export views that turn your checklist, section coverage, timeline and literature comparison into clean CSV tables for your supervisor.
• A Start here page, a method guide with full references, and a worked fictional example you can clear in a few minutes.
• Works on Notion's Free plan. No charts, no paid features and no Notion AI needed.

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