About the Journal

Focus, Scope and Objectives

Medicina e Morale | Rivista internazionale di Bioetica is a scientific quarterly journal promoted by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC). The journal publishes original articles on bioethics, moral philosophy, medical ethics, deontology, philosophy of law, and related disciplines, as well as case studies in which ethical dilemmas are relevant. Started up by Catholic Doctors of Turin, with the aim of reflecting on medico-moral issues, the Journal published the first issue in 1951, under the direction of Fr. Agostino Gemelli (UCSC's Rector), Peter Sisto (Professor of Special Pathology at the University of Turin) and Peter Swifts (Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Milan). Physicians Enzo De Lorenzi and Gian Pietro Ravera worked as Editorial Staff. From No. 1 in 1955 "Vita e Pensiero" publisher bought the Journal, but Editor-in-Chief and Editor Staff were unchanged. In 1973 the above-mentioned publisher tried to implement the Journal through a major involvement of the Faculty of Medicine. Prof. Angelo Fiori, forensic scientist, became the Editor-in-chief and the Editorial Committee and the Editorial Staff were enlarged. In 1974 Prof. Elio Sgreccia started to collaborate with the Journal, and later he became Editor, alongside Prof. Fiori. The Journal broadened its horizon, dealing with Bioethics. After some administrative difficulties in 1983, "Medicina e Morale", managed by the Faculty of Medicine at UCSC, came quickly to the milestone of over 3000 subscribers, partly from foreign countries. We can say with justifiable satisfaction, that now the Journal has credit in Italy and in other countries around the world and it is present in several important Universities and Cultural Institutions. In 2015 Prof. Antonio G. Spagnolo, Director of the Institute of Bioethics and Medical Humanities of UCSC of Rome, has become Editor-in-Chief of the Journal.

Publication Frequency

All papers are published quarterly, by adding them to the "current" volume's Table of Contents.

Purchasing an Article

Non-subscribers may also purchase individual articles at the prices and terms listed below.
Medicina e Morale - Article purchase: 15,00 (EUR)
Payment of this fee allows you to view, download and print this article.

Indexing

Medicina e Morale is included in the "Fascia A Anvur" for the following academic sectors: 11/C1 - THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY; 11/C2 - LOGIC, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE; 11/C3 - MORAL PHILOSOPHY; 11/C4 - AESTHETICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGES; 11/C5 - HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. Medicina e Morale is in the list of "ANVUR scientific journals" for two areas: 12 - LEGAL SCIENCES and 14 - POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. Medicina e Morale is indexed by: Scopus, The Philosopher's Index, EBSCO, Ovid, ProQuest, WorldCat, ERIH plus and Catalogo italiano dei periodici (ACNP) Medicina e Morale is included in the Collections of the National Library of Medicine, as well as in the Top 100 Bioethics Journals in the World of the Bioethics Research Library of the Georgetown University The Journal is associated with USPI (Unione Stampa Periodica italiana), and it is present in LinkedIn and Twitter

Peer review process

Peer review is applied to all research articles and the majority of other article types published in PAGEPress journals. This usually entails at least two independent, expert peer reviewers.

Policy

All submissions to PAGEPress journals are first checked for completeness before being sent to an Editor, who decides whether they are suitable for peer review. If an Editor is on the author list or has a competing interest in a particular manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to oversee peer review. When making a decision, Editors will consider the peer-reviewed reports, but they will not be bound by the opinions or recommendations contained in them. A single peer reviewer's or the Editor's concern may result in the manuscript being rejected. Peer review reports are sent to authors along with the editorial decision on their manuscript.

PAGEPress journals use one of two types of peer review:

Single-blind: the reviewers know the names of the authors, but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.
Double-blind: the reviewers do not know the authors' names, and the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.

Selection

Peer reviewer selection is critical to the publication process. A variety of factors influence it, including expertise, reputation, specific recommendations, conflicts of interest, and previous performance. All of these qualities are highly desirable: speed, thoroughness, sound reasoning, and collegiality.

When two independent peer reviewers cannot be obtained, the Editor may act as a second reviewer or make a decision based on only one report. If acting as a second reviewer, the editor must have sufficient knowledge in the area and sign the review to ensure transparency in the peer review process.

Before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript, potential peer reviewers should notify the Editor of any potential conflicts of interest. Editors' and peer reviewers' communications contain confidential information that should not be shared with third parties.

PAGEPress journals are committed to making editorial decisions and publishing them as soon as possible, and we believe that an efficient editorial process benefits both our authors and the research community as a whole. As a result, we ask reviewers to respond within the agreed-upon time frame. If reviewers anticipate a delay, we ask that they notify us so that we can keep the authors updated and, if necessary, find alternative solutions.

Diversity and equity

PAGEPress is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and strives for demographic diversity among peer reviewers. When inviting peer reviewers, editors are bly encouraged to consider geographical regions, gender identities, racial/ethnic groups, and other groups.

Misconduct

False or misleading information, such as identity theft and suggesting fake peer-reviewers, will result in the manuscript being rejected, further investigation in accordance with PAGEPress' misconduct policy (https://www.pagepress.org/site/plagiarism_misconduct), and notification to the authors' institutions/employers. PAGEPress journals follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance about peer reviewer fraud/falsification.

Guidance

The primary goal of peer review is to provide the Editor with the information needed to make a fair, evidence-based decision that adheres to the journal's editorial criteria. Review reports should also assist authors in revising their paper so that it can be accepted for publication. Reports that include a recommendation to reject the paper should explain the major flaws in the research; this will help the authors prepare their manuscript for possible re-submission (if allowed by the Editor) or submission to a different journal.

A quick guide to reviewing is available here

Before submitting a report, reviewers should ask themselves the following questions:

How would you react if you received this report?
Do you find the tone offensive?
Is it polite and professional?
Do the authors or their competitors receive any unnecessary personal or antagonistic remarks?

Please keep in mind that any offensive language in your report may be removed by the Editor.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the PKP Preservation Network, the Global LOCKSS Network and Portico to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.