Writing a winning bioethics manuscript: Tips for empirical, normative, and case-based papers

In this session, three prominent bioethics authors and editors will discuss key aspects of writing and publishing papers. The presentations will cover writing, submitting, and responding to reviewers’ and editors’ comments to assist attendees understand how to position their work for the best chance of publication.

The first presenter, an east-coast clinician who is a nationally recognized bioethics expert and has published over 280 papers in leading journals, will explain the standard rubric for case-based ethics papers, discuss differences in manuscript style for different audiences, and consider strategies for finding the right journal for a specific piece.

The second presenter, a philosopher from the south who is a national leader in bioethics, an associate editor of two of the leading bioethics journals, and herself has published over 150 papers in leading journals, will discuss key strategies in writing normative and conceptual ethics papers.

The third presenter, a west-coast clinician-researcher who served as editor-in-chief of a leading empirical bioethics journal and has published over 100 papers and book chapters, will discuss best practices in preparing a report of an empirical study for publication. The discussion will review the standard sections of empirical papers with emphasis on what to include, and what not to include, in each section. This discussion will also review how best to respond to reviewers’ and editors’ comments.

After the presentations, attendees will be invited to ask questions of the panel members and discuss their own experiences and pearls in writing and publishing.