instructions for authors GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................................... 3 Types of Manuscripts ................................................................................................................................... 3 Consideration ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Authorship ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Disclosure of Competing Interests and Funding ............................................................................................. 4 Ethical Approval .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Patient Consent............................................................................................................................................. 4 SUBMITTING A MANUSCRIPT .................................................................................................. 5 Brief Covering Letter .................................................................................................................................... 5 How to Submit a Manuscript Using Editorial Manager .................................................................................. 5 New Authors ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Registered Authors ................................................................................................................................... 5 Retrieving or Changing User Name or Password ....................................................................................... 5 Step-by-Step Instructions .............................................................................................................................. 5 FORMATTING AND STYLE ........................................................................................................ 8 Language...................................................................................................................................................... 8 British vs. American English ..................................................................................................................... 8 Abbreviations and Punctuation of Certain Words....................................................................................... 8 Abstracts in Other Languages .................................................................................................................... 9 Headings ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Punctuation .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Commas ............................................................................................................................................... 9 Periods.................................................................................................................................................. 9 Ellipses ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Semicolons ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Colons .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Hyphens ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Dashes ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Single Quotations Marks (Apostrophes) .............................................................................................. 10 Double Quotation Marks ..................................................................................................................... 10 Block Quotations ................................................................................................................................ 10 Numbers..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Numbers and Ordinals ......................................................................................................................... 11 Ages ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Sums of Money ................................................................................................................................... 11 Time of Day and Years ....................................................................................................................... 11 Percentages ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Physical Quantities.............................................................................................................................. 12 Divisions in Publications ..................................................................................................................... 12 IN-TEXT CITATIONS ................................................................................................................. 13 General ................................................................................................................................................... 13 One Author ......................................................................................................................................... 13 No Date or In Press ............................................................................................................................. 13 Two Authors ....................................................................................................................................... 13 Three Authors ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Four or More Authors ......................................................................................................................... 13 Same Authors, Same Year ................................................................................................................... 13 Same First Author, Same Year ............................................................................................................ 13 Multiple References ............................................................................................................................ 13 Journal of Bioethical Inquiry · http://link.springer.com/journal/11673 Direct Quotations .................................................................................................................................... 13 Single Page ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Multiple Pages .................................................................................................................................... 13 Nonconsecutive Pages ......................................................................................................................... 13 Multiple References ............................................................................................................................ 13 Unpaginated Electronic Work ............................................................................................................. 13 Personal Communication..................................................................................................................... 13 E-Mail Message .................................................................................................................................. 13 Section Number .................................................................................................................................. 13 Equation ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Volume Referenced............................................................................................................................. 13 Volume Plus Page ............................................................................................................................... 13 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 14 Academic Journals .................................................................................................................................. 14 One Author ........................................................................................................................................