Article Types
The British Journal of Biomedical Science (BJBS) considers four types of paper from the global scientific community: Original Research, Reviews, Biomedical Science in Brief and Case Reports. Full specifications are provided below.
This table outlines some criteria that contribute to acceptance or rejection.
Please ensure that any manuscript you submit conforms to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for ethics, as well as to the general BJBS article requirements. All submitted manuscripts will be checked by plagiarism detection software.
All BJBS articles are peer-reviewed, receive a DOI, are citable, published in PDF and HTML format, and submitted for indexing in relevant digital archives.
Additional information relevant to your submission:
Original Research
Original Research presents fresh and comprehensive data on a major aspect of biomedical science. An original research paper should be structured as follows;
Title Page: Page one gives the title, authors, their addresses, a brief running head, details of the corresponding author (to include email address), up to six key words, and a statement of word count.
Abstract: Page two has an Abstract of 350 words, structured as the main text, ideally with some data and p values.
Introduction: Page three begins the major body of the text, consisting of major sections of introduction (justifying the study and ideally presenting an original hypothesis. In addition, aims and/or objectives must be clearly and scientifically stated.
Materials and Methods: These should be of sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced, and include a justification of the sample size and/or number of experiments in addition to details of the statistical methods used.
Results: Should be described and succinctly stated.
Discussion: Should discuss the major points of the paper and its place in the literature). The discussion should conclude with a sentence stating how the work represents an advance in biomedical science (see concluding statement below).
Throughout the article the text is not to have separate sub-headings, other than the ones outlined above. However, specific paragraphs may be started with an italicised introductory word or two (such as ‘Patient details’ or ‘Statistical methods’). The maximum suggested word count for the article is 6,000 words and upto 10 tables/figures. The absolute maximum word count is 12,000 words.
Summary Table: All original articles should have a summary table, presenting, in up to three bullet points each of a single sentence of up to 125 characters (a) what is known about this topic, and (b) what this work adds. An example is provided below:
Summary table
What is known about this subject:
Many patients with cardiovascular disease still suffer thrombosis despite being on anti-thrombotic therapy such as aspirin and warfarin. (=120 characters)
Routine laboratory tests are only partially useful in identifying high-risk patients. (=75 characters)
Other laboratory tests such as the thrombelastograph (TEG) and micro-plate assays (MPAs) may identify high-risk patients. (=106 characters)
What this paper adds:
The TEG and MPA can identify patients on aspirin, warfarin or a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC). (=99 characters)
Clot formation, clot strength/integrity, and fibrinolysis (all assessable by TEG and MPA assays) vary according to anti-thrombotic. (=116 characters)
Clot formation, clot strength/integrity, and fibrinolysis vary according to the type of NOAC, that is, apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban. (=125 characters)
Concluding Statement: The final sentence at the end of the discussion section should read; “This work represents an advance in biomedical science because…….” with up to an additional 147 characters, making 200 characters altogether.
An example of an appropriate concluding statement for the summary table above would read: This work represents an advance in biomedical science because it shows that the formation, strength and degradation of fibrin and whole blood clots are different according to the action of warfarin and different NOACs. (=185 characters).
Biomedical Science in Brief
A Biomedical Science in Brief article follows a similar format as an original research article, to include a structured abstract of 350 words. However, whilst there should be a concluding statement, stating why the work represents an advance in biomedical science there is no summary table. Biomedical Science in Brief articles have a maximum word count of 3,000 and may contain no more than 4 figures/tables.
Case Report
A Case Report has a structured abstract of 350 words, an introduction, details of the case, and a discussion. Case reports do not have sub-headings and up to 3,000 words and may contain no more than 4 figures/tables. Case reports are expected to describe a truly novel and interesting case that will attract specialists from different disciplines, and will end with a summary sentence explaining why the case represents an advance in biomedical science.
Review Articles
Review articles that summarise recent advances in biomedical science are welcomed. They should be of between 4,000 to 6,000 words in length, upto an absolute maximum of 12,000 words and upto 15 tables/figures and comprise of an abstract of 350 words, followed by the main text, which can be divided into subsections. Otherwise, the format should comply with that of the other article types, though the materials and methods, results and discussion sections and the summary tables required for original articles are not required.
All submissions will be formatted single spaced, paginated, and 12-point font size throughout and lines must be numbered.
Editorial
Editorials are by invitation only. They are short essays that express the author’s viewpoint or explain journal policies. Editorials usually have a word count of approximately 1,000 words and 1 table or figure.
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor articles provide critical comments on a previous publication in the journal. Authors must submit their manuscript within 6 months of the official online publication date of the corresponding article. Editors will give a right of reply to the authors of the original article. Letter to the Editor articles have a maximum word count of 1,000 words and may contain no more than 1 Figure/Table. Letter to the Editor articles should have the following format:
1) Title: “Letter to the Editor: Title of the original article” (mandatory)
2) Introduction
3) Subsections relevant to the subject
4) Discussion. At the beginning of your Letter to the Editor, please provide the complete citation of the article being commented on.
Correction
Corrigendum/Addendum: should authors notice errors that affect the scholarly record or the integrity of the paper, authors are encouraged to submit a correction online. The correction must detail the reason(s) for the error(s) and include only the elements (e.g. sections, sentence, figure) of the manuscript being revised or corrected. All authors of the original paper need to agree to the request for changes. The contribution to the field statement should be used to clearly state the reason for the Correction. Depending on the extent of the correction required, corrections may require peer review. Authors are informed that requests for changes beyond that described here may not be accepted for publication. Erratum: should authors notice differences between their approved galley proofs and the final published article, thus leading to errors that affect the scholarly record or the integrity of the paper, authors are encouraged to submit a request for erratum to the Production Office (production@FrontiersPartnerships.org), clearly specifying the error and the correct information.