Notes to Contributors

I. Editorial Policy

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine is an interdisciplinary journal published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Our readers include biologists, physicians, students, and scholars in other disciplines who are interested in biology and medicine. We publish essays that place biological and medical topics in broader scientific, social, or humanistic contexts; we also publish book reviews, essay reviews, and letters to the editors. Although some of our essays are invited, we welcome voluntary contributions. Essays should be preceded by an abstract of up to 200 words. While we have no word limit, most of our essays are in the range of 4,000 to 7,000 words. We encourage authors to adopt a personal writing style that preserves the humanity, excitement, and color of the biological and medical sciences. All essays are subject to peer review before publication, and all manuscripts are edited according to The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Univ. of Chicago Press).

II. Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be submitted in Word (.doc) or rich text format (.rtf), as e-mail attachments to Dr. Alan N. Schechter, Editor, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (editors_pbm@press.jhu.edu). Text should be double-spaced throughout. Tables and illustrations will be accepted when necessary for the presentation of ideas and should be submitted either as separate digital images (high-quality .jpeg, .tiff, or .eps files) or as clear, glossy photographs; specific submission details will be sent to authors after manuscripts are accepted. Footnotes are not encouraged, but if required, they should be numbered consecutively within the text and should appear at the end of the document.

Authors should use the minimum number of references consistent with good scholarship and should cite them according to Chicago Manual author-date format, using "et al." for references with four or more authors. Citations should be given as (Author Year); multiple citations should be listed in alphabetical order and separated by semicolons (Craggs et al. 2008; Moerman 2002). Journal references should include, in order, author(s), year, title, journal title (abbreviated according to Medline, without periods), volume, issue (if available), and inclusive pagination:

Craggs, J. G., et al. 2008. The dynamic mechanism of placebo induced analgesia: Evidence of sustained and transient regional involvement. Pain 139:660–69.

Faria, V., M. Fredrikson, and T. Furmark. 2008. Imaging the placebo response: A neuro-functional review. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 18:473–85.

Book references should include author(s), year, chapter title, book title, edition, editor(s), inclusive page numbers, place of publication, and publisher:

Adler, R. 1997. The role of conditioning in pharmacotherapy. In The placebo effect: An interdisciplinary exploration, ed. A. Harrington, 138–65. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.

Moerman, D. 2002. Meaning, medicine and the "placebo effect." Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Internet references should provide full URL:

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). 2005. Clinical trial registration:

A statement from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. http://www.icmje.org/clin_trial.pdf.

When an abbreviation is peculiar to any field of biology or medicine, the complete word(s) should be used at first mention in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. The abbreviation alone may be used thereafter. Text to appear in italics should be in roman, underlined, in manuscript.

III. Manuscript Acceptance Policy

While it is our policy to require the assignment of copyright for most essays, we do not usually request assignment of copyright for other contributions. Although the copyright to such a contribution may remain with the author, it is understood that, in return for publication, the journal has the nonexclusive right to publish the contribution and the continuing right, without limit, to include the contribution as part of any reprinting of the issue and/or volume of the journal in which the contribution first appeared by any means and in any format, including computer-assisted storage and readout, in which the issue and/or volume may be reproduced by the publisher or by its licensed agencies.

Offprint purchase information will be sent after manuscripts are accepted.