Instructions for Authors

For guidelines on BMJ Journals policy and submission please click on links below.
Manuscript Formatting
Editorial policies
Patient consent forms
Licence forms
Peer Review Process
Online First process

Editorial policy

The Journal of Medical Ethics (JME) aims at being the pre-eminent medical ethics journal with high quality articles relevant to all those interested in medical ethics, particularly to health care professionals, members of clinical ethics committees, medical ethics professionals, researchers and bioscientists, policy makers and patients.

We welcome original papers form any part of the world, from all philosophical traditions and approaches, as well as interesting empirical studies.

Papers should be written in a non-specialist language and should ideally be readable by any well informed individual, in particular by both the non-philosophically trained health care professional and the philosopher with no practical health care experience. For our part The Editors will:

1. Ensure that all important issues in medical ethics are welcome in the journal.
2. Ensure that a fair, independent peer review system is in place.
3. Adhere to the highest ethical standards concerning editorial and research conduct.

Open access/Unlocked articles

Authors are able to make their articles freely available online, immediately on publication, for a fee, using the Unlocked service. This service is available to any author publishing original research in a BMJ Journal for a fee of £1,200(+VAT)/€1,775(+VAT)/$2,220.

Peer review at JME

Please read this section carefully before beginning to submit your paper.

JME operates double-blind peer review which requires authors to submit an anonymous version of their manuscript file:

To be uploaded as the Manuscript File including abstract)

This file should be anonymous and should NOT include:
Any author names (including file path in document footer)
Author institution details
Author contact details
Acknowledgements
Competing interests (if declared)
Ethics approval statements that refer to your institution
This file will be automatically converted to PDF once uploaded through the online submission system (Scholar One) and will be made available to the reviewers.

Please see more detailed information on the peer review process for JME below.

Reference formatting

Please ensure references meet the submission requirements otherwise your submission will be returned to you for correction.

JME does accept footnotes at the end of each page which should be denoted in superscript Roman numerals. There should be no more than around 30 words per footnote. Please be mindful of writing extensive footnotes when the content could be incorporated into the main text. References should be numbered and placed at the end of the article.

Referencing should follow the BMJ style, details can be found here:

http://group.bmj.com/products/journals/instructions-for-authors/formatting#references

Article types and word counts

• Editorials
• Commentaries
• Papers
• Feature articles
• Reviews
• Brief reports
• Responses
• Ethics abstract

The word count excludes the title page, abstract, tables, acknowledgements and contributions and the references.

Editorials

These are commissioned only articles. Original papers should not be submitted under this article type.

Commentaries

There are commissioned only articles. Original papers should not be submitted under this article type.

Word count: up to 1000
Abstract: up to 250 words. Not structured
Tables/illustrations: up to 2
References: up to 10

Papers

This is the main category for original research papers on all topics including both philosophical papers and empirical studies. The main criteria for acceptance are originality, rigour and accessability and interest to a wide audience.

Submissions from medical students and students in other health care professions are welcome, please note in the covering letter if the paper is written by a student

Word count: up to 3500 words.
Abstract: up to 250 words.
Tables/Illustrations: up to 5, any more at editorial discretion.
References: up to 25

Feature articles

These articles are commissioned only. Feature articles should express the arguments of the authors (they will be signed) and be authorative and perhaps even provocative. They should be timely in that they will deal with subject matter where there has been important new advances which have implications for both research, clinical practice or society at large. While authors need not be systematic in their approach to the literature, they should aim to develop a theme, with clear, logical argumentation, with some vision of the future or practical import for medical ethics, broadly construed.

Feature articles should be up to 7000 words long, with no more than 30 references.

We will generally run several 500 word commentaries around the Feature Article. You are invited to suggest potential commentators. You will have the right to write a short response to commentators of less than 500 words.

If you have an idea for a Feature article which you would like the Editor to consider please send your suggestion to: jme{at}bmjgroup.com.

Reviews

Most reviews are commissioned but uninvited reviews are welcome. Prior discussion with the Editor is recommended. Original papers should not be submitted under this article type.

Word count: up to 3500
Abstract: up to 250 words
Tables/illustrations: up to 5, any more at editorial discretion.
References: up to 25

Brief reports

This is the category for brief original arguments or results of empirical studies that can be stated succinctly.

Word count: up to 1500 words.
Abstract: up to 250 words.
Tables/Illustrations: up to 2, any more at editorial discretion.
References: up to 25

Response

These are a response from person or persons mentioned/criticised in a previous JME paper. It should in most cases be submitted within 6 months of the publication of the paper to which it is a response.

Word count: 1500 words (up to 3500 words after discussion with Editor in Chief)
Illustrations: at editorial discretion.
References: up to 10

Ethics abstract

These are commissioned only articles offered to authors following submissions where the topic or findings are considered to be of some interest to JME readership but not at the level of a peer-reviewed article. Original papers should not be submitted under this article type. These resubmissions are not peer reviewed.

Word count: up to 500
No Abstract
Tables/illustrations: yes up to 1
References: up to 3

Supplements

The BMJ Publishing Group journals are willing to consider publishing supplements to regular issues. Supplement proposals may be made at the request of:

1. The journal editor, an editorial board member or a learned society may wish to organise a meeting, sponsorship may be sought and the proceedings published as a supplement.
2. The journal editor, editorial board member or learned society may wish to commission a supplement on a particular theme or topic. Again, sponsorship may be sought.
3. The BMJPG itself may have proposals for supplements where sponsorship may be necessary.
4. A sponsoring organisation, often a pharmaceutical company or a charitable foundation, that wishes to arrange a meeting, the proceedings of which will be published as a supplement.

In all cases, it is vital that the journal's integrity, independence and academic reputation is not compromised in any way.

For further information on criteria that must be fulfilled, download the supplements guidelines (PDF).

JME Peer review process

The JME peer reviews all the material it receives, internally or externally. About half the papers are rejected after review in house. The usual reasons for rejection at this stage are insufficient originality, insufficient quality, or the absence of a message that is important to the readers of the JME.

In order that the review process can be as efficient as possible for both authors and reviewers, all manuscripts are initially reviewed by the editors and a decision is made about whether to send the paper for review. Only a proportion of papers (about half) are sent for review. Papers which are rejected without external review are discussed by the full editorial committee including the Editor in Chief. Authors whose papers rejected without review will receive notification within 2 weeks of submission.

We aim to reach a first decision on papers which are sent for review within 6 to 8 weeks of submission.If we make an offer of publication subject to revision we usually ask authors to return their articles to us within the subsequent month.

For original research articles an editor will usually take each article through from start to finish. The handling editor aims to read through and make a decision as to whether to send the article out for review within 7 days. If chosen for review your research article will be sent out for external review to at least 2 reviewers. The reviewers are given 3 weeks to complete their review of your article. You should, however keep in mind that reviewers may decline or may deliver late despite reminders, so the review process may take more than the time we give the reviewers.

In relation to articles for JME that survive external review decisions are either made by one of the Editors in Chief in clear cases, or they are referred to an editorial committee meeting where the editors make the final decision. The final decision for any manuscript remains with editors and may be at variance with reviewer reports.

Article provenance

Who had the idea, and was the article externally peer reviewed? At the end of every accepted editorial, review, paper, brief report, case report and response article the JME will add a statement explaining the article's provenance. The options are:

1. not commissioned; externally peer reviewed
2. not commissioned; not externally peer reviewed
3. commissioned; externally peer reviewed
4. commissioned; not externally peer reviewed

"Not externally peer reviewed" refers to those articles that have been reviewed internally by a second member of the editorial team.

Peer review for papers submitted by JME editorial staff

Editorials and obituaries written by JME editors do not undergo external peer review. Original research articles authored by a member of the editorial team are independently peer reviewed, an editor will have no input or influence on the decision of the article.

Submitting an appeal

Peer review by editors and external reviewers is usually based on a mix of evidence and opinion and may not always lead to the best decision. We welcome serious appeals, and many succeed.

Supplements

The BMJ Publishing Group journals are willing to consider publishing supplements to regular issues. Supplement proposals may be made at the request of:

1. The journal editor, an editorial board member or a learned society may wish to organise a meeting, sponsorship may be sought and the proceedings published as a supplement.
2. The journal editor, editorial board member or learned society may wish to commission a supplement on a particular theme or topic. Again, sponsorship may be sought.
3. The BMJPG itself may have proposals for supplements where sponsorship may be necessary.
4. A sponsoring organisation, often a pharmaceutical company or a charitable foundation, that wishes to arrange a meeting, the proceedings of which will be published as a supplement.

In all cases, it is vital that the journal's integrity, independence and academic reputation is not compromised in any way.

When contacting us regarding a potential supplement, please include as much of the information below as possible.

• Journal in which you would like the supplement published
• Title of supplement and/or meeting on which it is based
• Date of meeting on which it is based
• Proposed table of contents with provisional article titles and proposed authors
• An indication of whether authors have agreed to participate
• Sponsor information including any relevant deadlines
• An indication of the expected length of each paper Guest Editor proposals if appropriate

For further information on criteria that must be fulfilled, download the supplements guidelines (PDF).