2026-27 ERAS change to “Publications”

ERAS overhauled the publications section pretty significantly for the 2026-27 cycle! And it’s actually a positive move, I think.

The main idea is that AAMC/ERAS is discouraging applicants from fluffing/padding their research entries. Multiple presentations on the same topic will now be grouped together, and they removed quite a few of the categories (“Other articles,” “Peer-Reviewed Online Publication,” and “Scientific Monograph” are all gone). The scope of what’s allowed in this section is now basically limited to manuscripts and abstracts published in academic, peer-reviewed journals, peer-reviewed book chapters, and poster/oral presentations at conferences.

The message is clear: Programs want to see meaningful research, not filler material. AAMC said this specifically:

*”*[*The change is intended to encourage applicants to emphasize the quality of their research rather than the quantity*](https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-residency/what-eras-application-changes-could-mean-future-match-cycles)*.”*

So essentially, applying with a long list of random case reports and group publications in mediocre journals, which has become fairly common practice, is now being frowned upon. It will be interesting to see if the predatory research publication companies ([like the one in this Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/IMGreddit/comments/1j33yus/do_not_enroll_into_tgrp_for_research/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)) see a decrease in sales in the next few match cycles.

The main changes, starting with the Publications section being renamed to Scholarly Works, are mostly a huge improvement:

* You can tag 3 research experiences as most meaningful * You’ll be able to designate yourself as first author * Your name will be bolded in all publications for easy reference * You can create “Scholarly Collections,” which are groups of pubs/presentations on the same/similar topic. * You can preview your entries using the same filters that programs have access to

There’s [more detail about each of those in this article](https://classactmatchconsulting.com/eras-publications-now-scholarly-work-section-2026-27-changes/), or if you’d rather watch a video, this is the [AAMC webinar](https://vimeo.com/1129670590?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci).

Here’s a final quote from the AAMC article:

*Rather than quantity/volume, it’s “the quality of the content, the amount of time or contribution to a project, the depth of their understanding of a project that are often more important, according to program directors.”*

So if you’re applying to the 2026-27 match, don’t scramble to acquire as many publications as you can! Programs can easily discern between a haphazard list of publications thrown together for the match and genuine research efforts that add depth to your application. Try to get involved in a focused project or two that’s relevant to your field and then try to publish and/or present in the months ahead =)