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(Updated: 2022/04/27)

About the journal

 

Basic information

 

The Revista Bioética was designed by the Conselho Federal de Medicina - CFM (Federal  Council of Medicine of  Brazil) to foster multidisciplinary and pluralistic discussion of issues of bioethics and medical ethics. Its editorial line, as well as the composition and activities of the Editorial Board, are completely independent of the plenary session of the CFM. The authors are responsible for information in the articles, which do not necessarily express the official position of the Council.

With quarterly circulation of 10,000 copies distributed free of charge, the journal Bioethics can also be accessed in full on the CFM site and SciELO, in Portuguese, English and Spanish as well as in the Virtual Library. The press version in portuguese is distributed free of charge to interested parties requesting, and federal institutions of specialty health care, regional medical councils, medical associations, research groups in ethics, bioethics and human rights, registered in the CNPq, stricto and lato sensu courses in bioethics, and the libraries of Brazilians universities.

Revista Bioética’s general editor position is usually held by CFM’s 2nd secretary of the board, position now occupied by Dr. Helena Maria Carneiro Leão. CFM’s current president Dr. José Hiran da Silva Gallo is the scientific editor; renowned Dr. Rui Nunes occupies the honorary scientific editor position, and Dr. Natalia Oliva Teles contributes as assistant editor. Bioethics specialist Vanessa de Santana is the executive secretary, and journalist Lorna Weil is the administrative secretary; bibliographic normalization is done by librarians Eliane Medeiros and Rameque Beserra.

The other indispensable services to the production of the journal are outsourced to contracted companies through electronic trading bidding duly authorized by SciELO and coordinated by CFM’s editorial team.

Historical

Revista Bioética, edited by the CFM (Federal Council of Medicine) since 1993, is a pioneer in its specialization in Brazil. As the first publication in the field of bioethics in our country, the Revista Bioética is recognized by scholars and researchers as the main vehicle for the dissemination of their works. Because it was indexed in LILACS (Literature in the Health Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean) database, in years that followed its establishment, consolidated itself as streamlining media of bioethical reflection in Brazil.

In recent years the journal Bioethics published hundreds of scientific articles as well editorials and various materials in different sections that were part of their format, in the previous step to the journal restructuring in mid-2007. Additionally, it is important to inform that the journal's electronic page has recorded continuous growth since its reformulation in June 2009. The journal’s graphic design was reformulated in 2021, marking a new step in its history.

Progressive increase of works received from graduate studies, master and doctorate levels, students and advisors in Bioethics also testify the importance of Revista Bioetica for scholars and researchers. The fact that the periodical concentrates as articles evaluators the largest amount of experts with specific background in this field of study, among the other titles published in Health Sciences area. It should be considered still that, as it only publishes bioethics and medical bioethics, that is, concerning just a fraction of the broad range of Health Sciences disciplines, approved articles do not stay long in queue for publication in thematic issue or are presented as “special supplement”, denomination that, to a certain measure, disqualifies the editorial evaluation process that every article is subject in quality scientific journal. Thus, Revista Bioetica fosters the indispensable updating of topics in this field of knowledge among graduate programs emerging in the past decade.

Editors and Board members' training in bioethics, crucial for full comprehension of works in peers evaluation, reveals its importance level when one thinks in the lagging that, to a certain way, “stigmatized” that it is a field of study, still governing among those that do not dedicated themselves exclusively to it. The flow of works toward Revista Bioetica denotes not just authors' trust related to editors, Editorial Board members' comprehension of their ideas, as well as the expectation to reach a reading public related (and interested) in the kind of reflection provided by it.

Finally, regarding the specificity of been a pioneer in the field, it is crucial to point out that it is the sole publication that records the Brazilian bioethical reflection background.

Detailed analysis of edited material reflects the path of Brazilian bioethics, revealing the progressive construction of autochthonous standards that mark our insertion in the world scene of the discipline. In order to reflect the state of art of our bioethics (without obviously losing the connection with the international panorama), Revista Bioetica editors and Editorial Editorial Board intend markedly, since mentioned restructuring of the periodical in 2007, to make an updated publication, whose article express our public interests. Thus, each edition seeks to consider their plurality, which aggregate multiple perspectives form Health and Health Science areas, as well as those of humanities nature (philosophical, legal, and theological), diversity that mirrors the locus in which the publication inserts itself - trans-disciplinary -, in addition to contemplate works targeted to epistemological deepening of bioethics itself.

Its abbreviated title is Rev. bioét.(Impr.)., which should be used in bibliographies, footnotes and bibliographical references and strips.

 

 

Indexed in

 
  • Base de Dados da Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe de Informações em Saúde - LILACS
  • Latindex
  • Indice de Revistas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias - Periódica
  • Sumários de Revistas Brasileiras -Sumários.org
  • EBSCOhost Online Research Databases
  • DRJI - Directory of Research Journals Indexing
  • ReadCube
  • Redalyc - Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal
  • Scopus.
 

 

Intellectual property

 

All content of the journal, except where identified, is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY.

 

 

Sponsors

 

The publication does not charge authors for submission or editing manuscripts or receive external funding. It is entirely funded by its publisher, the Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM).

 

 

Conselho Federal de Medicina
SGAS 915 Lot 72 CEP 70390150. Brasilia / DF, Brazil.
https://portal.cfm.org.br/
bioetica@portalmedico.org.br

 

 


 

Editorial board

 

Editors

 

Editor: Helena Maria Carneiro Leão, physician, rheumatologist specialist; work doctor. Master in Forensic Expertise from the State University of Pernambuco and specialist in Bioethics from the University of Porto. He chaired the regional section of the Brazilian Society of Bioethics and composed, in the Federal Council of Medicine, the review committee of the 2010 and 2018 Codes of Ethics. He is president of the Medical Association of Pernambuco and regional vice president of the Association of Forensic Medicine and Expertise doctors. He is part of the ethics committee of the Brazilian Medical Association.
helena.leao@portalmedico.org.br
Orcid: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1216-3854

Scientific Editor: José Hiran da Silva Gallo, doctor, specialist in tocogynecology. PhD in Bioethics from Universidade do Porto/Portugal, where he serves as volunteer professor. Coordinator of the Câmara Técnica de Bioética of the Federal Council of Medicine. Member of the Academia de Medicina de Rondônia and the Sociedade Brasileira de Mastologia. He is an advisor and director-treasurer of the Federal Council of Medicine.
gallo@portalmedico.org.br
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1848-7270

Honorary scientific editor: Rui Nunes, doctor, doctor of medicine in the field of Bioethics. Hospital medical career consultant. Full Professor of Medical Sociology and Director of the Department of Social Sciences and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (FMUP). Coordinator of the Doctoral Course in Bioethics (FMUP / CFM), the Master Course in Palliative Care, the Postgraduate Course in Hospital Management and Administration and the Postgraduate Course in Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation.
ruinunes@med.up.pt
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1377-9899

Assistant editor: Natália Oliva Teles, biologist, PhD in Bioethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (FMUP). Volunteer professor at FMUP, in the Department of Social Sciences and Health. Senior Advisor at the Medical Genetics Center Doctor Jacinto de Magalhães / Centro Hospitalar do Porto, EPE. Member of the Ethics Committee of the Department of Social Sciences and Health at FMUP. Specialized editor of the Quarterly Scientific Magazine “Nascer e Crescer”, from the Hospital Center of Porto, EPE, with the item “Current Perspectives in Bioethics”.
natalia.oteles1@gmail.com
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1295-3701

 

 

Editorial board

   

 

Editorial production

 
  • Copidesk/ reviewer – Pedro Barros/Tikinet Ltda.
  • Translation and  proofreading –Tikinet Edição LTDA - EPP
  • Bibliographic Standards – Eliane M. Medeiros e Silva – CRB 1ª região/1678, Rameque Beserra Antunes de Figueiredo – CRB 1ª Região/2653
  • Secretariat – Vanessa de Santana Sertão
  • Administrative Secretary - Lorna Weil
  • Desktop publishing – Maurício Marcelo e Robson Santos/Tikinet
  • Graphic – Danielle Cavichiolo/Gráfica e Editora Posigraf
  • Printing – COAN Indústria Gráfica.
 

 


 

Instructions to authors

 

Editorial norms

 

Revista Bioética is an open-access scientific journal that publishes double blind reviewed bioethics and medical ethics articles in Portuguese, Spanish and English in full. It is published quarterly on solstices and equinoxes. Conceived by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) to foster multidisciplinary and plural discussions, it focused on academic training and the continuous improvement of health professionals. The composition and work of its Editorial Board, as well as its editorial line are completely independent of the CFM plenary. The authors are responsible for the information disclosed in their articles, which do not necessarily express the council’s official position.

Criteria for publication

Revista Bioética does not charge for the submission, editing or publication of manuscripts. Unpublished manuscripts, only in their online version, of a conceptual, documentary nature resulting from research or experiences in the field of bioethics or medical ethics, as well as critical reviews related to these topics will be for publication. All manuscripts will be subject to the scrutiny of the editors, Editorial Board and ad hoc peer reviewers in a double blind review process and must receive two approval recommendations.

Revista Bioética will refuse manuscripts that contradict the Fundamental Principles of the Brazilian Constitution, particularly articles 1, 3 and 4, which guarantee human rights and the repudiation of racism.

After submission, the manuscript is checked for text (maximum of 6,000 words) and abstract size (up to 150 words), as well as formatted and checked for originality using the plagiarism detecting software Plagius (Professional Plagiarism Detector). The results indicated by Plagius are carefully analyzed to identify whether notes refer to citations or copies. At this stage, references are also checked, making sure that they are complete, correctly numbered and in Vancouver Style, in accordance with the editorial policies – which can be found at http://revistabioetica.cfm.org.br in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Editorial adequacy, orthographic and grammatical aspects are observed, and the keywords checked in the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) database. The manuscript will return to the authors for adjustments and they will have 15 days to do them, otherwise the work will be removed from the editorial agenda.

If the number or characteristic of the changes identified is considered significant, the manuscript may be refused with notice of possible resubmission by complying with the indicated specifications. After receiving the version revised by the authors, if no changes are needed at this stage, the manuscript enters the next editorial phase.

At this stage, the reviewers – members of the Editorial Board and ad hoc reviewers – have 15 days to inform if they can review the article. If those initially designated cannot perform this voluntary task within the stipulated period, other reviewers will be selected from the registered collaborators and the peer-review process will restart. When three reviewers accept the task, each one will have 15 days to issue an opinion.

The criteria used for evaluation are content, editorial adequacy, originality of the ideas, topicality, text clarity, language adequacy, relevance of the information, coherence and conceptual and methodological logic. Besides these aspects, the title, abstract, indication and name of the parts of the manuscript, indication of the objectives, method, presentation of results, discussion and final considerations are analyzed. We also check if references are adequate and up to date.

The criterion for selecting reviewers seeks to contemplate the widest possible analytical diversity, in line with the interdisciplinarity of bioethics. Each article is sent to a reviewer with training in the specific area of the work (specialties in health and biology, law, philosophy, social sciences, etc.), or a reviewer who studies or has already discussed the topic (health inequities, human rights, abortion, dysthanasia, genetics, research ethics, etc.) and also to a bioethicist with bioethics training (either specialization or graduate degrees) to evaluate the use of ethical concepts and categories. Further revision or reformulation of parts of the article, title or references as recommended may be required for final approval, to which authors must respond within 20 days.

At any stage, the editors reserve the right to perform normative, orthographic and grammatical changes in the texts, to maintain the standard language and the better understanding of the articles, respecting, however, the authors’ style. If the authors decide not to publish the manuscript after the initial revision, the version edited by Revista Bioética will belong to it and cannot be sent to another journal. The final edited version, with orthographic and grammatical revision will be submitted to the authors for approval. However, the final revision of the article in the three languages and the galley proofs will not be sent to the authors, as well as its English and Spanish translations, published online on the journal’s website and in SciELO.

Requirements for submitting manuscripts

  • Unpublished manuscripts will be accepted in Portuguese, Spanish or English language. Works archived in institutional repositories are not considered unpublished.
  • Current orthographic rules must be followed in each language
  • The manuscripts presented must be uploaded to the Revista Bioética webpage in Word Rich Text Format (RTF).
  • Works in PDF format will not be accepted under any circumstances.
  • Manuscripts in which the use of the “track changes” tool is identified can be withdrawn after submission.
  • Manuscripts cannot have been concomitantly submitted to other journals.
  • The opinions and concepts presented in the manuscripts, the origin and accuracy of the citations are the responsibility of the authors.
  • Manuscripts that reproduce in whole or in part, without proper reference, works of other authors as well as an article, or a substantial part of it, already published by the authors themselves, will be summarily refused.

Identification of articles

  • Manuscripts must, MANDATORILY and by the new requirements of SciELO, be accompanied by an cover page, containing:
    • Article title (up to 10 words);
    • Full name of each author, accompanied by an e-mail address;
    • Highest academic title (undergraduate or graduate; specialist; master; PhD);
    • Institutional link;
    • Course or program, department and college/university (MANDATORY for students and professors);
    • Orcid of each author;
    • City, state, country.

Note: manuscripts lacking such information at the initial stage will not advance in the editorial process.

  • Manuscripts should provide, as a separate item, the full name of the first author and their postal address, which will be published in the footer of the articles’ first page. A telephone number, which will not be published and will be used exclusively for exchanging information with the editorial team on an emergency basis, should also be provided.
  • If the first author listed is not the person responsible for contacting the other authors about reviews until the final approval of the work, then the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the person in charge must be specified.
  • The individual collaborations of each author in preparing the manuscript must be specified at the end.
  • If the work has been previously submitted to another journal but not published, the publisher must be identified and, if necessary, proof that the work will not be published in that journal must be presented.

Article formatting

  • Articles must be formatted as A4 page using Calibri font, size 10, space 1.5, in 2.5 justified margins.
  • Titles must be highlighted in green and written in the current form, i.e., only the first letter of the sentence and the given names are capitalized. There should be no paragraph indentation or any other formatting tag that increases or decreases the distance between them.
  • The text should have up to 6,000 words. The word limit does not include references, work identification and abstracts in the three languages, which are considered separately.
  • Articles in Portuguese must contain a concise abstract (resumo), with a maximum of 150 words, as well as Spanish and English versions (resumen and abstract).
  • The title should also be concise and explanatory (up to 10 words), written in the three languages.
  • Each abstract must be accompanied by at least three and at most seven keywords, describing the work’s content and assisting its multiple indexing. The keywords must be taken from the DeCS database and listed at the end of the abstracts in Portuguese, Spanish and English, written with initial capital letters and separated by periods.
  • The texts must be divided into sections, with titles and subtitles, when necessary. Each of these parts or subparts must be highlighted in green, never by progressive numbering. To emphasize a subtitle within a title, the italic feature must be used.
  • When an author is quoted in the body of the text, place only the reference number at the end of the quotation, in superscript. Example: Potter 1.
  • International treaties mentioned in the body of the text should be written in italics (e.g.: Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights or the Declaration of Helsinki).
  • Manuscripts with footnotes will not be accepted. Any explanation or consideration must be included into the body of the text.

Research articles

  • The publication of research papers involving human beings is the responsibility of the authors and must comply with the Normas e Diretrizes para Pesquisa Envolvendo Seres Humanos (Standards and Guidelines for Research Involving Human Beings – Resolution CNS 466/12), Resolution CNS 510/16 on the standards applicable to research in Human and Social Sciences whose methodological procedures involve the use of data obtained directly from participants, or identifiable information, or that may entail greater risks than those of everyday life. The principles of the Declaration of Helsinki developed by the World Medical Association (1964 and subsequent versions, prior to 2008) must also be considered, in addition to compliance with the specific legislation of the country where the research was conducted.
  • Studies conducted in Brazil must inform the number of the approval opinion in the CEP/Conep System, in addition to attaching a copy of the approval opinion to the submission platform.
  • Revista Bioética supports the policies for registration of clinical trials of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), recognizing the importance of these initiatives for registration and international open access to clinical trial information. Therefore, we will only accept research articles on clinical trials that have received an identification number listed in one of the Clinical Trial Registries validated by the criteria established by the WHO/ICMJE, which should be at the end of the abstract.
  • The description of the research method must be complete and detailed. It is essential to identify the research subjects and how, where and when the study was conducted as well as which data collection and analysis techniques were employed, including the name of the software used and measurement methods adopted.
  • When approving research articles, authors must submit a statement of responsibility regarding the content of the work, including a declaration of no conflict of interest that may have influenced the results.

Authorization to publish

Revista Bioética considers that submitting the manuscript to the analysis of the editors and the Editorial Board characterizes acceptance for publication. All authors must send the authorization for publishing the final version by electronic means when their article is accepted; the main author must also do so in written form, by a signed letter addressed to Revista Bioética according to the model sent by the editors. Published articles will be under the care of Revista Bioética, which must be cited in case of total or partial reproduction in any medium, printed or electronic.

Tables and illustrations

Each article can be accompanied by only three tables or figures, formatted in the text, open for revision and not copied in image or PDF format. They must be numbered sequentially and indicate the source of the information presented at the bottom. In the tables, statistical measures of variations such as the standard deviation and standard error of the mean must be identified.

References

  • References, for the most part, will follow the standards proposed by ICMJE, using the Vancouver style.
  • References must be indicated in superscript Arabic numerals (e.g., Potter 2) and numbered consecutively in order of citation.
  • All references must be listed at the end of the article in the corresponding numerical order.
  • All citations from sources presented in the text must be on the references, including documents, treaties, reports, books and book chapters.
  • All electronic references used must also inform the link and the date of access.
  • Literal references, which reproduce ipsis litteris a text already published, must inform in the list of references the page number in the original from which the excerpt was withdrawn.
  • References cited only in tables or figure captions must conform to the established sequence.
  • In the references, articles with up to six authors must inform all names, as shown below. When this number is exceeded, the first six authors must be named followed by et al.
  • The original reference for a citation should always be preferred over references of second order, that is, when the cited author is referring to another. If the use of apud is unavoidable, this must be made explicit in the text. For example: “Analyzing Potter’s work, Pessini 3 describes…”.
  • All references must be presented correctly and completely, according to the examples below. Book titles, location, and publisher names should not be abbreviated.
  • Articles with references made using formatting features of text editing software, such as “Track changes,” “Footnotes” and/or “Endnotes” will not be accepted – under any circumstance.
  • Articles with references in alphabetical order will not be accepted.
  • The veracity of the information contained in the list of references is the responsibility of the authors.

Examples of references

 

 


 

Conselho Federal de Medicina SGAS 915, lote 72, CEP 70390-150, Tel.: (55 61) 3445-5932, Fax: (55 61) 3346-7384 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: bioetica@portalmedico.org.br