Revised on August 30, 2024

▣ General Guidelines ▣

The Korean Journal of Medical Ethics is the official journal of The Korean Society for Medical Ethics. The journal adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, except as otherwise indicated in the instructions below.

The journal is published quarterly on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. Articles can be submitted on a rolling basis through the online submission system. The corresponding author must be an active member of the Society; however, exceptions may be made by the Editorial Board.

The journal charges an article-processing fee of 200,000 KRW for each manuscript accepted for publication or 400,000 KRW for work that has received research funding. Solicited manuscripts will not incur a publication fee unless they are supported by research funding. (Account number: 100-021-780130; Shinhan Bank, Depository: Korean Society of Medical Ethics).

1. Types of articles

1) The journal publishes articles in the areas of medical Ethics, medical ethics education, medical humanities, bioethics, nursing ethics, and interdisciplinary research dealing with the ethical, legal, and social implications of medicine.

2) The journal publishes articles in the following formats, as defined below: research articles, feature articles, commentaries, responses, brief communications, reports, and editorials. The Editorial Board may also solicit manuscripts as needed.

(1) Research article

An article that presents the results of the author’s original research.

(2) Feature article

An article planned and requested by the Editorial Board

(3) Commentary

An article that comments on another article published in this journal

(4) Response

An author's response to a commentary

(5) Brief communication

A short article that presents original research findings or new insights.

(6) Report

An article that illustrates a fact or phenomenon

(7) Editorial

An article written by the Editorial Board explaining journal's policies or proposals.

2. Research and publication ethics

1) Authorship

Authors must meet all four of the following criteria, as recommended by the ICMJE (https://www.icmje.org/):

- Make a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;

- Write an article based on their findings or critically revise important parts of their work;

- Approve the final version of the manuscript before publication; and

- Ensure that any issues related to the accuracy or veracity of the research are properly investigated and resolved, and accept responsibility for all aspects of the research

2) IRB review

Human-subjects studies must be reviewed by an IRB, and the IRB approval number must be included in the manuscript.

3) Conflicts of interest

Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the Editorial Board. All conflicts of interest should be reported using the Copyright Transfer Agreement, Disclosure of Conflict of Interest and Statement of Ethics form provided by the journal. Any additional conflicts of interest should be reported using the ICMJE form.

Korean Journal of Medical Ethics (KJoME) format: https://www.e-kjme.org/author/copyright_transfer

ICMJE format: https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest

4) Duplicate publications

The journal does not accept submissions of previously published work. Manuscripts under review elsewhere are also not eligible for submission to this journal. Duplicate publication is possible only if the requirements set forth in “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” are met.

Articles published in this journal may be reprinted elsewhere only with the permission of the Editorial Board, and they must accurately record the original bibliographic information, including the title of the article and the volume number of the Journal of the Korean Society of Medical Ethics.

5) Ethics violations

If academic misconduct is suspected in a published article, or if concerns are raised about the integrity of the research, the Editorial Board will evaluate the situation in accordance with the Research Ethics Policy. should it be determined that research misconduct has occurred, appropriate measures will be taken, as outlined in the Research Ethics Policy.

3. Manuscript preparation

1) Format and language

Manuscripts should be formatted for A4 paper, double-spaced with 25mm margins at the top, bottom, left, and right, and written in Korean or English using Microsoft Word or Hancom Docs. Page numbers must be included in the original file.

2) Glossary

Medical terms are derived from the most recent medical glossary published by the Korean Medical Association. Foreign words are labeled according to the standards of foreign language notation. The first time a Korean name is mentioned, it should be followed by the original name in parentheses.

3) Order

The manuscript should be organized in the following order: 1) title, 2) English abstract, 3) English index terms, 4) main text, and 5) references. If necessary, 6) appendices may be included. All manuscripts must adhere to this order. Commentaries, responses, brief communications, reports, and editorials should not exceed 1500 words.

4) Contents

(1) Article title

The article title, which should be centered, must be concise but sufficiently descriptive of the article’s content, avoiding abbreviations and phrases such as "an analysis, study, or review of ...".

(2) English abstract

Abstracts should be no more than 200 words and be formatted as a single- paragraph narrative style with no line breaks. It must encapsulate the key points from the introduction, body, and conclusion of the article.

(3) Index terms

Use two to six lowercase English words, except for proper nouns. For index terms use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) from Index Medicus, which can be found at https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search. If a term is not listed, use the term as it is used in the scientific community.

(4) Text

① The article should be structured with an introduction, main body, and conclusion. It may also include sections for background, objectives, methods, results, and discussion. The text must adhere to the following system for numbering section headings.

I., II., III., IV.,
1., 2., 3., 4., ......
1), 2), 3), 4), ......
(1), (2), (3), (4), ......
①, ②, ③, ④, ......

② Authors should ensure the correct use of ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ when classifying research subjects and explain the methods used to determine each. If a study excludes one sex, a justification for this exclusion is required. Additionally, authors should clarify how they identified subjects’ ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’ and justify the use of these categories.

③ Footnotes may be used to supplement the text. Use superscript numbers for footnotes (e.g., medical ethics.¹⁾). Avoid using reference numbers and footnote numbers simultaneously (e.g., [2].¹⁾). Authors may not include reference numbers in footnotes, and must include them in the text.

④ In-text citations should follow the Vancouver style. For works by two authors, both last names should be cited; for works by three or more authors, cite only the first author’s last name, followed by ‘et al.’ Reference numbers should appear in square brackets [ ].

Examples:

[One author]

Kamm [11] uses the concept of "substitution by the same thing" to explain why the majority rule is fair.

[Two authors]

Beauchamp & Childress [12] interpret the delegation of decision-making power to the family as a delegation of autonomy, stating that "choice is autonomous in and of itself, even if the patient delegates that right to someone else".

[More than three authors]

In addition, Emanuel et al. [13] point out that the benefits to the population at large should be considered, not just to the individual research subjects.

[No author]

To be ethically permissive does not mean that the behavior is ethically compulsory, nor does it mean that it is ethically encouraged [14].

⑤ For articles written in Korean, proper nouns such as names, institutions, and organizations should be written in Korean as much as possible, with the original name in the Latin alphabet name in parentheses only once. For abbreviations, the full proper noun and its abbreviation should be given in parentheses at the first mention.

⑥ Dates of birth and death for persons should be placed in parentheses. (e.g., Rudolf Pirhoe (1821-1902)).

⑦ Arabic numerals should be used for numbers.

⑧ Units should conform to the Système international d'unités (SI units).

⑨ The use of special characters (『』, ‘’, “”, etc.) to emphasize specific content is restricted, and the Editorial Board may exclude them during the editing process.

(5) References

① All references must be cited within the text.

② References should be listed in English in the order they appear in the text, following the Vancouver style. Use the journal’s designated acronym and journal abbreviations from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and KoreaMed.

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/

- http://www.koreamed.org/JournalBrowser.php

③ For works by three or fewer authors, list the names of all authors. For works by four or more authors, list the names of only three authors, followed by ‘et al.’

④ References to journal articles should be arranged as follows: author’s name, title of the article, title of the journal, date of publication, volume number, and page numbers. References to books should be arranged as follows: author’s name, title of the book, edition used, place of publication, name of the publisher, and date of publication.

[Journal article without doi].

Teno JM, Lynn J, Phillips RS, et al. Do formal advance directives affect resuscitation decisions and the use of resources for seriously ill patients? J Clin Ethics 1994;5(1):23-29.

[Journal article with doi].

Choi EK, Shin SJ, Yoo SH. Covid-19 and research ethics. Korean J Med Ethics 2021;24(1):1-16.
https://doi.org/10.35301/ksme.2021.24.1.1

[Book].

Pellegrino ED, Thomasma DC. The virtues in medical practice. Oxford University Press; 1993.

[Chapter in a book].

Stufflebeam DL. Foundational models for 21st century programme evaluation. In: Stuffle-beam DL, Madaus GF, Kellaghan T, editors. Evaluation models: viewpoints on educational and human services evaluation. 2nd ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2000. pp.33-84.

[Dissertation].

Won JS. An ethnographic study of caring for dying patient with cancer [dissertation]. Ewha Womans University; 1993.

[Internet resource].

Doe J. Title of subordinate document [internet]. Royal Society of Chemistry; 1999 [cited 2024 Jan 3].
https://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document

World Health Organization (WHO). World health statistics 2006 [internet]. WHO; 2006 [cited 2024 Feb 20].
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241563214

(6) Tables, figures, and appendices

① Figures must be clear, concise, and embedded within the text of the article. Both figures and tables should be in English. When Korean text is necessary, it should be placed in the Appendix and cited in the text.

② Titles for tables and figures should be clauses or phrases. The title of a table should be written above the table, and the title of a figure should be written below the figure, using titles like “Table 1” and “Figure 1”.

.

③ All abbreviations should be explained at the bottom of the figures or tables, and explanatory statements should be included to enable readers to understand them without referring to the text. Phrases such as ‘the same as above’ should be avoided.

④ Vertical lines should not be used in tables. Use symbols in the order of the Arabic numeral superscript (e.g. , ,1),2.)3) ). Units in tables and figures should follow the Système international d’unités (SI units).

⑤ Illustrations (including photos) should be at a resolution of 300 dpi or higher.

⑥ Appendices should be titled as ‘Appendix 1’, ‘Appendix 2’, etc.

⑦ Copyrighted tables and pictures can only be used with the permission of the copyright holder. A statement that such permission has been obtained must be included in the text.

4. Manuscript submission

1) All articles should be submitted using the online submission system (https://submission.e-kjme.org/), and submissions should include the following files:

- Title page

- Manuscript

- Copyright Transfer Agreement, Disclosure of Conflict of Interest and Statement of Ethics Template

2) Authors should submit a separate cover page that includes the following information:

- the title of the article

- the full names (e.g. Kil-Dong Hong), affiliations, and positions of all authors in Korean and English. (If there are more than two authors, they should be listed in order of contribution, and the corresponding author should be identified as such. Refer to CRediT to determine the contributing role of each author

- the ORCID iDs of all authors

- the corresponding author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address

- a brief statement concerning acknowledgments, conference presentations, and whether or not the article received research funding.

3) Before submitting an article, authors should ensure compliance with the submission rules by completing the Author Checklist in the online submission system and entering the information in the correct order.

4) The Editorial Board may request revisions to an article after it has been accepted if it does not meet the submission guidelines. In this case, the author should make the requested changes and resubmit.

5. Manuscript review

1) All submissions will undergo a blind review by at least two reviewers selected by the Editorial Board. The Board will base its decision regarding the publication of each submission on these reviews.

2) Contributors can contact the journal with any questions they may have regarding the submission or editing of manuscripts. The Editorial Board may modify the formatting or organization of submitted manuscripts, as needed, without affecting the original content.

6. Copyright

The Korean Society of Medical Ethics retains all publication rights to the contents, tables, and figures of accepted articles. Copyright transfer is carried out using the Copyright Transfer Agreement, Disclosure of Conflict of Interest and Statement of Ethics template. This journal adheres to a Creative Commons Non-commercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0). The non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction of any article in any medium is permitted provided the original work is properly cited. Derivative works must always include attribution to the original author. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

7. Other

Other matters not covered in these instructions will be decided by the Editorial Board.

8. Supplement

Article 1 (Enactment) These submission rules took effect on September 1, 1998.

Article 2 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect March 30, 2014.

Article 3 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect January 1, 2015.

Article 4 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect March 8, 2017.

Article 5 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect September 12, 2018.

Article 6 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect March 1, 2019.

Article 7 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect September 1, 2019.

Article 8 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect September 1, 2021.

Article 9 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect May 11, 2022.

Article 10 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect March 29, 2024.

Article 11 (Amendment) This submission policy took effect August 30, 2024.