Instructions for Authors

Global Bioethics Enquiry is a journal of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and publishes reviews, original research papers, commentaries and case studies related to all issues in the field of Bioethics. Original viewpoints and narratives as well as poems in the field of bioethics are welcome. The journal also has a student section where articles in the field of bioethics written by undergraduate and post graduate students are considered.

THE EDITORIAL PROCESS

The manuscripts received shall be peer reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that they are being submitted to only this journal and not simultaneously submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere. The Editors shall review all submitted manuscripts initially. Manuscripts with scientific flaws or vague research designs may often be rejected. The journal will not return any unaccepted manuscripts. The reviewers shall review all papers in a blind review and convey their decision to the Editors. Within a period of 8–12 weeks, the contributors shall receive comments, need for corrections and notice regarding acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. Other journals appropriate for the paper may be suggested in some cases of rejection. Articles accepted would be copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and proofs for correction shall be sent to the author prior to publication. Authors will be asked to sign a copyright form and undertaking for plagiarism in case of accepted manuscripts. Only upon receipt of corrected proofs from the authors and completion of all form required, will a paper be published in the journal.

TYPES OF ARTICLES

·       Original Research Papers or Article: These papers should only include original research findings from planned research studies such as case–control series, surveys with high response rates, randomized controlled trials and treatment based intervention studies. Meta analyses shall be included in this section. The word limit is 6000 words excluding references and an abstract (structured format) of not more than 250 words with 4–6 key words.

·      Case Reports: These should contain reports of new, interesting or rare cases of clinical significance or with implications for management. It could also include case reports where novel management methods were used. It has a word count of 1500 words with up to 15 references and an abstract of not more than 150 words.

·       Review Papers: These are systematic and critical assessments of the literature which will be invited. Authors wishing to submit a review paper will have to contact the editor and seek permission for submission of the review. Only after permission has been sought will the article be accepted for peer review. The review article has a word limit of 8000 words and must be state of the art in every respect. Only invited reviews will be published. However exceptionally interesting topics even if uninvited when submitted may be considered.

·    Personal Subject Related Viewpoint: These should be experience–based views and opinions on controversial issues that affect the profession. They could also be part of clinical problems that confront people in routine practice. The author should have sufficient experience or must have some unique personal experience based on the subject being considered. The word limit is 2500 words.

·       Announcements: Information regarding conferences, meetings, courses, awards and other items likely to be of interest to readers should be submitted with the name and address of the person from whom additional information can be obtained (up to 200 words).

·        Book or Movie Review: Exceptionally readable and good books and movies or documentaries which shall be academic and otherwise in the field of mental health shall be considered in this section. The word limit shall be 1500 words.

·        Poems: Poems related to various themes in bioethics and allied sciences shall be considered based on their merit for this section.

·       The journal is in evolution and newer concepts shall be considered from time to time.

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS

Send soft copy of the manuscript along with a covering letter in Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010. Name and designation of all authors with designation and name of the corresponding author must be mentioned. Copies of any permission(s) to reproduce published material, and to use illustrations or report information about identifiable people must accompany the manuscript.

All the manuscripts should be submitted via e–mail to the editor at email –russell.f.dsouza@gmail.com or avinashdes888@gmail.com

For online submission articles should be prepared in two files (first page file and article file). Images should be submitted separately.

First Page File: Prepare the title page, covering letter, acknowledgement, etc. using a word processor program. All information which can reveal your identity should be here. Use doc/pdf files. Please do not zip the files.

Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. Do not include any information (such as acknowledgement, your names in page headers, etc.) in this file. Use doc/pdf files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 400 kb. Do not incorporate images in the file. If file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file.

Images and Tables: Submit good quality colour images. Each image should be less than 400 kb in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 800 pixels or 4 inches). All image formats (jpeg, tiff, gif, bmp, png, eps, etc.) are acceptable; jpeg is most suitable. Do not zip the files. All tables, figures and images must be duly labelled.

Contributor’s form: If the manuscript is submitted online, the contributors’ form has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks from submission. The scanned copyright form can also be submitted via e mail.

Copyright: All authors retain exclusive copyright of the material published in the journal. A copyright form on the journals website must also be signed by the authors in the same regard. 

PREPARATION OF THE RESEARCH PAPER (MANUSCRIPT)

Please use A4 size (212 × 297 mm) on Microsoft Word, with margins of 1 inch from all the four sides. If sending a hard copy, type or print on only one side of the paper. Use double spacing throughout. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page. The language should be British English or American English.

Language

For all purposes the journal shall follow the language pattern of American English.

Title Page

1.     Type of manuscript (Original/Review/Case etc)

2.     The title of the article, which should be concise, but informative;

3.     Running title or short title not more than 50 characters;

4.     The name by which each contributor is known with institutional affiliation;

5.     The name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed;

6.     The name, address, phone numbers, facsimile numbers and e–mail address of  the contributor responsible for correspondence;

7.     The total number of pages, photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references and abstract).

8.  Acknowledgements: Specify contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair and acknowledgments of technical, financial and material support. Also mention financial grants received or conflict of interest if any.

9.     If the manuscript was presented as part at a meeting, the organisation, place, and exact date on which it was read along with mention of any award it may have received.

Abstract Page

The second page should carry the full title of the manuscript and an abstract (no more than the number of words already specified). For abstract we follow an unstructured abstract format that should not exceed 250 words. Below the abstract should provide 3 to 6 key words.

Text of the article

State the purpose of the article and summarize the rationale for the study or observation in Introduction. For case reports give incidence of similar cases in past. Describe the selection of the observational or experimental subjects clearly in Patients and Methods section. Identify the age, sex, and other important characteristics of the subjects. Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail. Give references to established methods, describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration. Reports of randomised clinical trials should be based on the CONSORT statement (http://www.consort–statement.org).

When reporting experiments on human subjects, procedures followed should be in accordance with the standards ethical committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/17–c_e.html). Do not use patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Present the results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations; emphasise or summarise only important observations. Use standard guidelines for statistics (See Ann Intern Med 1988;108:266–73).

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them along with implications of the findings and their limitations in the Discussion section.

References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in brackets (). References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Avoid using abstracts, unpublished observations, and personal communication as references. Please refer http://www.icmje.org for other types of references such as electronic media, newspaper items, etc.

1.   Standard journal article: Seshadri L, George SS, Vasudevan B, Krishna S. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and human papilloma virus infection in renal transplant recipients. Indian J Cancer 2001;38:92–5.

2.     List the first six contributors followed by et al. 

3.    Pesonal author(s): Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

4.  Chapter in a book: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. pp 465–78.

Tables

·   Tables should be self–explanatory and should not duplicate textual material. Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable. Limit the number to minimum required.

·       Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.

·   Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all non–standard abbreviations that are used in each table. For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, **, ***

·      Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.

Illustrations (Figures)

·       Submit three sets of sharp, glossy, un–mounted, colour photographic prints, with height of 4 inches and width of 6 inches.

·       Computerised colour printouts are not acceptable.

·       Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.

·       Each figure should have a label pasted on its back indicating the number of the figure, the running title, top of the figure and the legends of the figure. Do not write on the back of figures, scratch, or mark them by using paper clips.

·       If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for figures for such figures.

Reprints

Journal does not provide any free printed reprints. Reprints can be purchased. Articles may be accessed online and pdf format will be sent to the authors. Contact the editor for any queries. Authors wishing to procure a hard copy of the journal may send their requests to the editor via email.

Plagiarism Policy

All articles will be examined by computer software for plagiarism. If it is found that a paper that has been submitted has been copied in parts or fully from an earlier published paper the authors will be duly informed and the paper may be rejected. Action against the erring authors may be taken as per recommendation of the editorial board.  

Open Access Policy

The author grants free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit, and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorsh