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BMC Medical Ethics

BMC Medical Ethics is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of ethics in medicine. The journal is particularly interested in submissions on ethical aspects of biomedical research and clinical practice, including professional choices and conduct, medical technologies, healthcare systems and health policies. It considers both normative and empirical contributions to medical ethics and welcomes multidisciplinary research on ethical issues in healthcare, including global perspectives and culturally diverse approaches to bioethics.

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Subject Medical Ethics
Impact Factor 3.1
Quartile Q1
Open Access Type Open
ISSN 1472-6939
eISSN 1472-6939
Invitation Only No
Cost Range APC: £1690.00 GBP / $2390.00 USD / €2090.00 EUR, plus VAT or local taxes where applicable.

Submission Instructions

BMC Medical Ethics accepts the following article types. Click on an article type to view submission instructions.

Research Article

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, and confirm that the manuscript content has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Manuscript Manuscript must include a title page and the sections Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and Declarations. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a Declarations section with the required subheadings retained even when marked 'Not applicable', a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, and documentation of any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or another suitable section if no Methods section is available.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts that are published, in press, or publicly available as e-prints/preprints may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and URLs must be assigned reference numbers and included in the reference list in full with site title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Figure legends must appear in the main manuscript and figures must be uploaded separately, while tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript and longer tables may be placed at the end with their positions indicated in the text. Figures must be numbered in the order first cited, multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, and tables must be numbered and cited sequentially using Arabic numerals and created with the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Study Protocol

Cover Letter A cover letter is required and must confirm the study status at submission. The cover letter must state the study status, explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured with separate sections. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Discussion, and Trial registration, and randomized controlled trial protocols must give the trial registration number in the last line of the abstract.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Methods/Design, Discussion, and a Declarations section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, the Declarations subsections specified for this article type with 'Not applicable' where irrelevant, and disclosure of any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or a suitable alternative section.
References References must follow the Vancouver style. Only published or in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, and publicly available preprints or abstracts may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end, and figure legends must appear in the main manuscript while figures are uploaded separately. Figures must be numbered in order and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, and tables must be numbered in sequence and created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures.
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Review

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include Background, Main Body, and a short Conclusion.
Manuscript Manuscript must include a Background section, a Conclusions section, and a Declarations section, and the main text may be divided into short informative subsections. Review manuscripts must include three to ten keywords, a Declarations section with the specified subheadings using "Not applicable" where irrelevant, an Availability of data and materials statement, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, funding and author-contribution declarations, and documentation of any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or another suitable section.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published or in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, abstracts, and public preprints may be cited, unpublished abstracts/data/personal communications must be excluded from the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and URLs must be numbered and included in the reference list with full site title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript while figures are uploaded separately, and tables shorter than one page may be placed in the text whereas longer tables may be placed at the end with their locations indicated in the text. Figures must be numbered in text order and multipart figures submitted as one composite file, while tables must be numbered and cited sequentially, created with the word processor's Table object, and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Systematic Review

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, and for reports of health care interventions on human participants it must also include a Trial registration section.
Manuscript Manuscript should include Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions sections and a Declarations section with the required subheadings. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, the registration number as the last line of the abstract if the systematic review was registered, and documentation of any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or suitable alternative part.
References References should follow Vancouver style. Only published or in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, and publicly available abstracts or preprints may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links must be cited as numbered references with full site title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Figure legends must appear in the main manuscript while figures are uploaded separately, and tables shorter than one page may be placed in the manuscript whereas longer tables may be placed at the end with in-text callouts. Figures must be numbered in order and multipart figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered in sequence and created using the word processor’s table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Database Article

Cover Letter Cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract Abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include Background, Main body of the abstract, and short Conclusion.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Construction and content, Utility and discussion, Conclusions, and a Declarations section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords and a Declarations section with the subheadings Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, Acknowledgements, and Authors' information (optional), using 'Not applicable' where a section is irrelevant and documenting any Large Language Model use in the Methods section or suitable alternative part of the manuscript.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Web links and URLs must be cited by reference number in the reference list with the site title, full URL, access date, and author if clearly identifiable, and journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the text file, and figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript rather than in the image files. Figures must be numbered in first-citation order and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered and cited sequentially, created with the word processor's table function, and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Software Article

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Results, and Conclusions.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Implementation, Results, Conclusions, Availability and requirements, and a Declarations section, with Results optionally combined with Discussion. Manuscript must provide three to ten keywords, include a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, document any Large Language Model use in the Methods or another suitable section, include the software as additional files, and include all Declarations headings with 'Not applicable' where a section is irrelevant.
References References must follow Vancouver reference style. Only published or publicly available articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; URLs must be cited as numbered references with full site title, full URL, and access date; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and dataset identifiers including DOIs should be given as full URLs.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, larger tables may be placed at the end of the text file, and figures must be uploaded separately with legends included in the main manuscript. Figures must be numbered in text order with multi-panel figures submitted as single composite files, and tables must be cited in sequence and created using the word processor's Table object rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Case Report

Cover Letter A cover letter is required for Case Reports. Cover letter must describe how the case is rare or unusual and its educational and/or scientific merits, include any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required for Case Reports. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Case presentation, and Conclusions.
Manuscript Manuscript must include a title page, Background, Case presentation, Discussion and Conclusions, and a Declarations section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, and a Declarations section with the subsections Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, Acknowledgements, and optional Authors' information, using 'Not applicable' where a subsection is not relevant.
References References must use Vancouver style. Only published articles, clinical trial registration records, and published or publicly available abstracts may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and web links must be numbered and included in the reference list with the site title, full URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file, tables shorter than one page may be placed in the manuscript at the appropriate location, and tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the text file. Figures must be numbered in order of first mention and uploaded in that order, multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, and tables must be numbered and cited in sequence and created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Matters Arising

Cover Letter Cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, and confirm that the manuscript content has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract Abstract must not be included. The first paragraph is used as the abstract for submission purposes instead of a separate abstract.
Manuscript Main text should be as concise as possible and ideally not exceed 1,200 words. Manuscript should begin with a brief non-technical summary paragraph, contain the body text with optional short informative subsection headings, and include a Declarations section with the required subheadings. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords and a Declarations section with the headings Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, Acknowledgements, and optional Authors' information, using 'Not applicable' where a declaration is not relevant.
References Contributions may have up to 15 references. References should follow Vancouver style. Only published articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts or items available through public e-print/preprint servers may be cited, unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links must be numbered and included in full in the reference list with title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables The article should ideally require only one or two small figures or tables. Figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file, tables shorter than one page can be placed in the manuscript while larger tables can be placed at the end of the text file, and figures must be uploaded separately. Multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, tables must not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files, footnotes must not contain figures or tables, and footnotes to tables should use superscript lower-case letters or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data.
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Recent Publications

Fetal right to life at the intersection of ethics, law, and health: a qualitative study of parents’ and health clinicians’ perspectives

Zahra Maddah, Faezeh Ghafoori

10.1186/s12910-026-01640-y
View Publication

Moving the goal post and using ethics as a rhetorical refuge doesn’t change the evidence: About the debate on the best care for minors with gender issues

FD Zepf, M Ligges, C Ligges, L König, T Banaschewski, CS Monsalve, R Kaltiala, J Smids

10.1186/s12910-026-01631-z
View Publication

Reply to: Moving the goal post and using ethics as a rhetorical refuge doesn’t change the evidence: About the debate on the best care for minors with gender issues

Skye Stanwich, Ezra D. Oosthoek, Karl Gerritse, David Matthew Doyle, Annelou L. C. de Vries

10.1186/s12910-026-01632-y
View Publication

AI–based clinical prediction models for early autism detection: ethical considerations and use implications across caregivers, autistic adults, and clinical providers

Jessica Sperling, Erin Haseley, Stella Quenstedt, Lauren Driggers Jones, Sam Brandsen, Adrian Brown, Perusi B. Muhigaba, Geraldine Dawson, Matthew Engelhard, Gary Maslow, Benjamin A. Goldstein, Lauren Franz

10.1186/s12910-026-01634-w
View Publication

Beyond ethical enthusiasm: community benefit-sharing, autonomy, and the case for precaution in genomic research

Claude Kamau, Larisse Prinsen, Donrich Thaldar

10.1186/s12910-026-01623-z
View Publication

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to publish?

Submission to first decision (median): 9 days.

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Is a cover letter required?

A cover letter is required. It should explain why the manuscript should be published in BMC Medical Ethics, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, confirm that the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable. Authors may also suggest preferred or non-preferred peer reviewers in the cover letter.

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What are the publication costs?

Research Topics

Ethics in Clinical Research Ethics in medical practice Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues Patient Dignity and Privacy Biomedical Ethics and Regulation Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues Healthcare cost, quality, practices Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health Organ Donation and Transplantation Innovations in Medical Education Disaster Response and Management Reproductive Health and Technologies Genomics and Rare Diseases HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions Mental Health and Patient Involvement Global Health and Surgery Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations

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