ISSN 0123-3122
printed version
eISSN: 2027-5382
digital version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Peer Review Process
• Online Submissions
• Author Guidelines

All articles are reviewed by the Editorial Board to verify full compliance with the criteria requested in these instructions. Should any of the respective requirements not be met, the author(s) will be informed accordingly.

After being reviewed by the Editorial Board, the articles are sent to expert peers who evaluate their scientific and academic quality. The identity of the authors is not disclosed to the reviewers, nor do the authors know who is reviewing their work. Once the designated external and internal academic peers have given their opinion, a decision is made to publish the material with modifications, to accept the material definitively, as is, or to reject it.

The Journal will notify the author(s) within a prudent period that shall not exceed 60 days. After being accepted and once all adjustments or modifications have been made, if such be the case, the articles are submitted for copy editing. This process respects each author's particular style and, in no case, does copy editing imply any changes whatsoever in the contents of an article.

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Persona y Bioética accepts primarily scientific research articles that are consistent with what is proposed in its theme and scope. Articles are to be submitted through this platform, for which registration is required by clicking here. Authors must use this form to submit a complete résumé, including information such as institutional affiliation and address, mailing and email addresses, in addition to the minimum data required for the organization and to ensure indexing of the original text. This is a requirement of the indexing systems for scientific publications.

Articles and texts that pass the initial screening to determine if they meet the aforementioned criteria and are consistent with the journal's theme and scope are then subject to an academic peer review. Once the outside peer reviewers have given Persona y Bioética their opinion, a decision is made to reject the material, to accept it with changes, or to accept it as submitted. The author is informed accordingly within a period of no more than 60 days as of the date the original manuscript was received. If an article is accepted and published, Persona y Bioética will send the author three copies of the edition in which it appears. In the case of an article by more than one author, the principal author will receive two copies and each co-author will receive one. The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by its contributing authors; they alone are responsible. All articles are to be accompanied by a respective declaration of originality and a waiver of rights signed by each of the authors. Otherwise, the article will not be submitted to the final publishing process even if it has been approved by the peer reviewers. The form that appears immediately after these instructions must be filled out for that purpose. It also is available on our website: http://personaybioetica.unisabana.edu.co

Format

The original text is to be submitted in digital format (.doc or .docx in MS Word), letter-size, double spaced, in Times New Roman 12, with 3 cm. margins. The material may not exceed 25 letter-size pages in length. The pages are to be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals located in the upper right hand corner of each page. The text shall be free of attributes such as tabs, the use of different fonts, decorative icons, grey highlighting or any other addition that is not part of the final design and layout of the article. The author is advised to keep a copy of the original text, as the journal does not return material submitted to it for publication. Graphic material must comply with the following specifications, at the very least, so as to ensure clear visibility on the Web and in the printed version. If the Word file contains a figure that has been "pasted" or imported, the same figure also must be attached in a separate document in Excel or PowerPoint. The same applies to complex tables. Files prepared with special digital publishing software are preferred. As to resolution, digital images submitted for publication should be at least 300 DPI in.JPG format.

Contents

Texts are to be submitted in full; that is, with an introduction, a bibliography or reference list, an abstract in Spanish and English, captions for the illustrations, and any other material that constitutes part of the work. An abstract of no more than 120 words, in Spanish and English, describing the purpose of the article, essay or study, the methodology used and the more relevant conclusions must be included as well. If an English version of the abstract cannot be provided, Persona y Bioética's official translator will do so. A list of at least six, but not more than ten key words must be provided, in Spanish and English, to help classify the work.

Publishing criteria

Persona y Bioética applies its own publishing criteria with respect to capitalization, abbreviations, acronyms, copy editing, use of symbols and figures, words with double writing, and consecutive marking of tables and graphs, among other aspects. All texts submitted for publication are subject to these criteria.

Footnotes are exclusively for comments, clarification or additional details (e.g. "emphasis added," when the text of a quotation is highlighted) and to supplement the information on a particular citation (v. g. page or pages where the information may be found). References are marked by superscript numbers in the text, before the punctuation mark and after the reference, if such be the case. When the note does not refer to the text, it should be specified, in parenthesis at the end, if it is an editor's note or a translator's note, with no abbreviation.

Statistical and graphic information falls into two categories: tables, which are to be numbered consecutively and presented in a way that is understandable, and figures, which include graphs, diagrams, drawings, maps, photographs and the like, and are used to add information. The titles of all illustrations shall be as concise as possible. If the illustration is from another publication, the source must be identified. Photographs must include the source and date.

All words defined or explained in the glossary, with the exception of proper names, are to be written in lower case. The words being defined or explained are to be written in italics, with small capital or bold type. The definition is to be written in rounded fonts or normal type. The defined word is separated from its definition by two spaces, with no punctuation mark.

CITATIONS

With respect to citation style and bibliographic entries, Persona y Bioética follows the rules established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (known as the Vancouver style). This is the style used by most international scientific journals and is available for mandatory use, free of charge, at: http://www.icmje.org/, Part IV (Manuscript Preparation and Submission), Point 9 (References), which includes 41 examples of how to reference journal articles, books, other texts and electronic material, distributed into five categories. The following are some of those examples.

Journal Articles

1. Standard article / More than six authors:

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002; 935(1-2):40-43.

14. Article containing a retraction:

Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002; 3(2):1-9. [Retraction of: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000; 1(12):90911.

Books and Other Monographs

20. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author:

Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.

23. Chapter in a book:

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.

Other Publications

29. Newspaper article:

Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).

31. Legal documents:

• Veterans Hearing Loss Compensation Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-9, 115 Stat. 11 (May 24, 2001).

• Healthy Children Learn Act, S. 1012, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001). Cardiopulmonary Bypass Intracardiac Suction Control, 21 C.F.R. Sect. 870.4430 (2002).

• An Update on the Science, Benefits and Cost: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Environment, Technology and Standards of the House Comm. on Science, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 4, 2001).

Unpublished Material

34. In press:

Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. In press 2002.

Note: NLM prefers the expression "forthcoming," because not all articles will be printed.

Electronic Material

36. Journal article on the Internet:

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(3):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/June/Wawatch.htm

37. Monograph on the Internet:

Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.nap.eduibooks/0309074029lhtml

38. Home page on a website:

Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/

For publication and indexing purposes, full details on the authors, titles and publishers must be provided in all bibliographic references noted in the reference list at the end of the article. This is extremely important. These references must be cited in the text with numbers in brackets, [1], pursuant to the order they appear in the text, making sure the citation does not have two numbers (the page or pages are specified in the text or in a footnote). When a work edited in a foreign language is cited, the author's name, the title of the book, and the publisher are noted in the original language. A bibliography lists sources not cited in the text. It is to be arranged pursuant to the criteria for the reference list, without numbering and in alphabetical order.

All references must be provided in full. Otherwise, the article will not be submitted to a peer review and will be returned immediately to the author for completion of the references.