As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format.
Where available, DOIs or permanent URLs for the references have been provided.
We prefer that text is single-spaced, uses a 12-point font (preferably Arial or Calibri), and employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).
The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined below.
The author has read the author's guide.
Submission Instructions
Our Author's Guide is available to the public for increased transparency and to clarify what we look for in a paper.
Voices in Bioethics operates on a continuous publication model, aiming for one to two weeks from submission to a decision, and three to four weeks from the decision to publication. Voices accepts submissions in two categories. We do not publish book or movie reviews or surveys or overviews of issues, books, or research. All articles provide ethical argumentation.
Perspectives:
Perspectives are short papers that express an opinion on a current issue; perspectives must present novel arguments or analysis.
Perspectives should be approximately 750–2500 words.
Perspectives should cite scholarly journals and may cite mainstream media when appropriate. (50 percent of citations or more must be academic and include journals, books, or other academic materials.)
Articles:
Articles should be approximately 1500–6000 words.
Any bioethics topic is welcome.
Articles must predominantly cite scholarly papers and research (academic journals, ethics journals, books, law reviews, and medical journals) but may also include citations to mainstream media when necessary and relevant.
Edit and peer review transparency:
Article editors will focus on the submission’s structure, analysis, depth, argument, and readability. Articles are academic pieces and must be supported by academic or primary citations. Quality of the work cited is emphasized, not number of citations.
Voices in Bioethics employs a double-anonymized peer review process.
In-house peer reviewers work with editors and attend meetings to maintain fairness and create unbiased critiques of each work. Their close affiliation is crucial to the journal's mission to achieve high quality articles that contribute fresh ideas and arguments to the bioethics discourse.
Peer reviewers evaluate papers based on the following factors: purpose, relevance, originality, understanding and incorporation of existing bioethics literature, organization, discussion and argument, degree to which the conclusion is supported, grammar and mechanics, and writing style.
Format of Submissions, Endnotes, & Style
Submit your document attached as Microsoft Word document (not .pdf).
Text in the endnotes or footnotes is accepted.
No bibliographies or reference lists. Endnotes or footnotes only.
Endnote or footnote numbers (superscripts) in the text should be sequential, never repeating, and only one endnote number should be placed at any location. When multiple citations are relevant to a particular point in the text, they are grouped together in a single endnote, separated by semicolons.
Footnotes must be automatically numbered in Microsoft Word. The superscripts may not be manually typed in. Please format all references in Microsoft Word footnotes in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style, APA, or MLA. Consistency is more important than which format you choose. More information, including citation examples, is available here: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
No "accessed on" dates.
Text should avoid references to researchers and authors of cited materials. When possible, keep names in the endnotes, especially names of those who conducted scientific and medical research.
Text should avoid extraneous information.
Avoid long quotations.
Please do not submit images and tables unless necessary; Please include the source information and appropriate credits for the image, as Voices in Bioethics is not authorized to publish images without appropriate credit/sourcing.
Include Disclosure Statement:
Statement that your submission material has not been published previously elsewhere, including any self-publication website like Medium, Academia, or LinkedIn.
Statement indicating whether you have any conflict of interest or received any funding with respect to the manuscript.
Please indicate whether you are affiliated with the Columbia University MS in Bioethics program or with Columbia University’s other departments / areas of study and in what capacity.
Author integrity:
By submitting any material for online publication in Voices in Bioethics, the author(s) warrant that:
They are the sole author(s) of that information, and that all authors have been included.
All authors have particpated in both the research and writing.
They agree to have their content published online.
Author attests the manuscript submitted was not previously published elsewhere and author will attribute the work to Voices in future distributions.
Author understands that Voices in Bioethics is open access, free, and available to the public.
The content does not infringe upon the rights of others (including but not limited to privacy rights, particularly patient privacy rights under HIPAA, copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights); that any material used is properly cited and credited; and that the submitted content does not contain unlawful, libelous, or slanderous statements.
Publication of the submitted content will not result in any harm or injury to any individuals or entities. Further, authors should disclose in the cover email whether there are any financial or other relationships that might result in a conflict of interest.
Plagiarism, data fabrication, and image manipulation are not tolerated. Reuse of text that is copied from another source must be between quotes (or indented if longer quotation) and the original source must be cited. If a specific work, idea, concept, or topic is inspired by previous works, these works must be explicitly cited.
Voices in Bioethics does not accept AI-generated text including text generated by ChatGPT or any other LLM technology. Text attributed to such is not acceptable. Use of ChatGPT for text credited to the author is plagiarism.
If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, we may publish a correction or retract the paper.
Voices in Bioethics will never charge a submission fee and will never pay for a manuscript.
