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BMC Palliative Care

BMC Palliative Care is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in clinical, scientific, ethical and policy issues, local and international, regarding all aspects of hospice and palliative care for the dying and for those with profound suffering related to chronic illness.

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Subject Health Care Sciences & Services, Health Policy & Services
Impact Factor 3
Quartile Q2
Open Access Type Open
ISSN 1472-684X
eISSN 1472-684X
Invitation Only Yes
Cost Range APC: £2290.00 GBP / $3090.00 USD / €2690.00 EUR; subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable.

Submission Instructions

BMC Palliative Care is an invitation-only journal. Submissions are accepted by invitation from the editorial board only. The following article types are accepted:

Research Article

Cover Letter Cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published in BMC Palliative Care, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, confirm the content is not published or under consideration elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract Abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions, and Trial registration.
Manuscript Manuscript must include the sections Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Declarations, and three to ten keywords, with the title page listing the title, all authors’ full names and institutional addresses, and the corresponding author. Manuscript must include 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, and Acknowledgements, with 'Not applicable' used for any irrelevant section, and any use of a large language model must be documented in the Methods section or a suitable alternative part of the manuscript.
References References must use Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and web links or URLs must be numbered and included in the reference list in full.
Figures & Tables Figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file, tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, and tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the document with their placement indicated in the text. Figures must be numbered and uploaded in the order first mentioned in the text, multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, and tables must be created with the word processor’s Table object and not embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Review

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published in BMC Palliative Care, address any journal policy issues, declare potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, confirm the manuscript is not published or under consideration elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must minimize abbreviations, must not cite references, and registered systematic reviews should give the registration number as the last line.
Manuscript Review manuscripts must include a title page, Background, Main text, Conclusions, 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, and Acknowledgements, with an optional Authors' information subsection. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, an Availability of data and materials statement, an Authors' contributions section using author initials, a Competing interests section using author initials where relevant, an Acknowledgements section, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, definitions of abbreviations at first use, and 'Not applicable' under any irrelevant Declarations subsection.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available preprint articles, trial records, and 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 URLs must be numbered and included in full in the reference list with site title and access date.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, longer tables may be placed at the end with placement indicated in the text, figure titles and legends must appear in the main manuscript, and figures must be uploaded separately in citation order. Footnotes must be used instead of endnotes and must not contain figures or tables or consist only of a reference citation, while table footnotes must use superscript lower-case letters or asterisks for significance values.
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Case Report

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published, address any journal policy issues, declare potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, and for case reports describe how the case is rare or unusual and its educational and/or scientific merits.
Abstract An abstract is required. The abstract must not exceed 350 words. The abstract must be structured. The abstract must include the headings Background, Case presentation, and Conclusions.
Manuscript The manuscript must include a title page, structured abstract, main text with Discussion and Conclusions, and a Declarations section containing the required subheadings. The manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, 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, and Acknowledgements, using 'Not applicable' for any irrelevant section.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published or in-press articles, clinical trial registration records, abstracts, and publicly available preprints may be cited, unpublished abstracts or 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 in the reference list.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, longer tables may be placed at the end of the text file, and figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript while figure files are uploaded separately. Clinical photographs may be included only with a statement that written consent to publish was obtained, figures must be numbered in order of first mention, and multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file.
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Recent Publications

Referral and utilization patterns for home-based palliative care services among older adults

Joohyun Chung, Aaron Langlois, TylaAnn Burger, David L Chin

10.1186/s12904-026-02179-w
View Publication

Bereaved informal caregivers’ experiences with a Canadian home hospice program: a qualitative study

Miao Li, Davina Banner, Aderonke Agboji, Christopher A. Klinger, Donna Flood, Shannon Freeman

10.1186/s12904-026-02158-1
View Publication

Communication practices and experience of connection in telehealth serious illness conversations with rural cancer patients: a qualitative study

Elise C. Tarbi, Stasha Medeiros, Amelia Haque, Serena Verma, Abhishek Ambati, Robert Gramling, Maija Reblin

10.1186/s12904-026-02192-z
View Publication

Navigating existential conversations about life and death with families in paediatric palliative care: a qualitative interview study with healthcare professionals

Elin Hjorth, Christina Melin-Johansson, Bodil Holmberg, Tove Godskesen, Carina Lundh Hagelin, Anneli Ozanne, Annica Lagerin, Camilla Udo

10.1186/s12904-026-02171-4
View Publication

Content, timing, participants and documented outcomes of family meetings in a specialist palliative care unit in Portugal: a retrospective descriptive study

Helena Fragoeiro, Francisca Rego, Rui Nunes

10.1186/s12904-026-02189-8
View Publication

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to publish?

Submission to first decision (median): 4 days

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Is a cover letter required?

A cover letter is required and should explain why the manuscript should be published in BMC Palliative Care, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, confirm the work has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and name the special issue if applicable.

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What are the publication costs?

Article processing charge: £2290.00 GBP / $3090.00 USD / €2690.00 EUR, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable.

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Research Topics

Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues Cancer survivorship and care Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health Pain Management and Opioid Use Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes Frailty in Older Adults Patient Dignity and Privacy Palliative and Oncologic Care Family Support in Illness Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints Ethics in medical practice Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders Chronic Disease Management Strategies Organ Donation and Transplantation Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Heart Failure Treatment and Management Nursing education and management Management of metastatic bone disease

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