Standards

The Brazilian Journal of Forensic Sciences  -  BJFS,  linked to the Paulista Institute of Legal Studies and Bioethical - IPEBJ, in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, is an electronic journal, and nonprofit organization, which has as objectives: to publish results of scientific research related to the playing field of forensic science, bioethics, medical law , dental and health and relay several information that aim to contribute to the development of forensic science and related fields.

The Brazilian Journal of Forensic Sciences publishes articles in the following categories:

I - Original Articles - are contributions to disseminate original and unpublished research results, that can be replicated and / or generalized, as well as research and interpretive discursive formulations of theorist effect.

II - Letters to the Editor - includes letters aimed at discussing recent articles, published in the Journal, or reporting research or significant scientific findings.

II - Theoretical study: analysis of theoretical constructs of forensic science or a related field, leading to the questioning of existing and development of hypotheses for future research.

IV - Brief Communications and Case Reports - are original studies or preliminary research notes containing unpublished data relevant to the field of forensic science, bioethics, medical law, dental, health and related areas.

V - Reviews - critical review of the literature.

a) Systematic Review - uses a research method conducted by synthesizing the results of original studies, quantitative or qualitative. The objective is to answer a specific question of relevance to the field of forensic science, bioethics, medical law, dental and health and related areas. It describes in detail the process of finding the original studies, the criteria used for their selection and inclusion in the review and the procedures employed in the synthesis of the results obtained by the studies reviewed (which may or may not be procedures for meta-analysis or meta-synthesis). The premises of the review are: the exhaustion in pursuit of the studies, a justified selection of the studies by  inclusion and exclusion criteria and explicit assessment of methodological quality, and the use of statistical techniques to quantify the results.

b) An Integrative Review - uses a research method that presents the synthesis of multiple published studies and provides general conclusions about a particular area of ​​study, in a systematic and orderly way and contributes to a deeper understanding of the subject investigated. You must follow standards of methodological rigor, clarity of the presentation of the results, so that the reader can identify the actual characteristics of the studies included in the review. Steps for integrative review: identification of the theme and selection of the hypothesis or research question to the survey, establishing criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies / samples, or literature search, defining the information to be extracted from the selected studies / categorization studies, assessment of studies included in the review, interpretation of results, presentation of the review / synthesis of knowledge.

  - Articles Reflection – a matter of character or opinionated analysis of issues that may contribute to the deepening of topics related to the field of forensic science, bioethics, medical law, dental and health and related areas.

VII  -  Editorial  - the authors are invited to write a Editorial for a specific number of the journal.

BJFS is Open Access.   by tvol / CC BY
There are no fees for publication or access of articles.

The publication of the work will depend on the assent of the Editorial Board of BJFS. The article,  submitted for review and possible publication,  must be original, not being permitted simultaneous presentation to other journals, national or international. The concepts presented in the papers are the sole responsibility of the author (s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine.

The papers will be evaluated by two members of the Editorial Board belonging to different institutions of the article which has been obtained. The scientific content, proper use of grammar (Portuguese / English) and scientific relevance will be assessed . The authors and reviewers are kept anonymous during the process of assessment / acceptance. Items may be withdrawn at any time of the examination before being selected by the Editorial Board, if the authors wish for it.

The Editorial Board of the BJFS will be responsible to accept, refuse or return the item to the authors with suggestions for modifications and / or adaptations of form, content, methodology and statistical analysis. The suggestions for the correction (s) of author (s) should be held in a maximum period of 40 days from the return of the item. In this case, the article will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board, which does not necessarily signify your acceptance for publication. If after thirty days, the item is not resubmitted without reasonable justification and  sent to the Editorial Board, the job is automatically rejected for publication. Articles that do not conform to the editorial standards will be refused, without any reference.  The acceptance or rejection of the manuscript for publication will be communicated to the author(s)  for a maximum period of two months.

It is not accepted total or partial plagiarism of another work or website. The plagiarism check is done using the online software Plagium.

Although theauthor’s creativity and style is respected concerning  the manuscript format, its structure is conventional, containing introduction, materials and methods or samples and methods, results, discussion and conclusion, highlighting the contributions of the study to the advancement of knowledge in the field of forensic science, bioethics, medical law, dental and health and related areas.

The Introduction should be brief, clearly defining the problem studied, highlighting its importance and knowledge gaps. Including references that are strictly relevant.

Materials and methods or patient samples and methods employed, the population studied, the data source and selection criteria should be described objectively and completely.

The results should be limited only to describe the material analysis (quantitative or qualitative). The text should complement and not repeat what is described in tables and figures.

The talk emphasizes the new and important aspects of the study, makes an interpretations and comparisons with other published sources in the literature not mentioned in the introduction. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion with a brief summary of the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these results, comparing and contrasting the results with other relevant studies.

The conclusion or final considerations must be linked to the goals of the study but avoid unsubstantiated assertions and conclusions from the data.

The concept of authorship adopted by BJFS is based on the substantial contribution of each of the persons listed as authors, as regards, in particular, the design and planning of the research project, acquisition or analysis and interpretation of data, drafting and critical review . There is no justification for the inclusion of names of authors whose contribution does not meet the above criteria, which may, in this case,  be included in the acknowledgments section.

Upon submission of manuscripts should be attached to e-mail documents:

- Copy of the approval of the Ethics Committee or a statement that the research did not involve human subjects;

- Cover letter completed and signed by all authors.

The documents must be scanned in JPG or GIF.

Sheet presentation (must be sent in single file). It should contain only the title, author names and abstracts in English and Portuguese for articles submitted in Portuguese. The submitted articles should not contain English texts in Portuguese. The abstract should contain up to 250 words, including the purpose of the study, basic procedures (selection of subjects, methods of observation and analysis, key findings) and conclusions. At the end of the abstract must be given at least three and at most six descriptors, according to "Index Medicus" and DeCS (Descriptors in Health Sciences), available at http://decs.bvs.br/.

The authors 'names will be provided in order of publication, with surname capitalized; titles and authors' institution, full address of the corresponding author including phone and email address. The title should preferably have up to 20 (twenty) words.

The article should be typed in Arial 12 with 1.5 spacing, justified, with margins of 2.5 cm on each side, on page A4.

The title should be typed in Arial 14, bold, capital letters, centered and presenting maximum twenty (20) words.

The pages should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, from the home page of text and numbering should be located at the bottom right.

The illustrations (graphs, charts, photographs, etc.) are considered figures and should be limited to the smallest amount possible. Should be numbered with Arabic numerals, with their respective captions according to the order they appear in the text. If the graphic is composed of more than one image, use letters (A, B, C, etc) to display them. Use only internationally standard abbreviations.

Photos should be sent in original colors and scanned in jpg or tiff with at least 300dpi.

Footnotes should be indicated by asterisks, started in every page and restricted to a minimum.

The maximum number of pages includes the full article with the title, keywords and abstracts in both languages, illustrations, charts, tables, pictures and references:

- Original articles, short communications and case reports, with up to 25 pages. It is suggested to include references strictly relevant to the problem addressed and avoid inserting too many references in one citation.

 - Letters to the Editor, 1 page maximum.

- Review articles, with up to 25 pages. It is suggested that it should include references strictly relevant to the problem addressed, and to avoid inserting too many references in one citation.

- Articles of reflection, maximum of 20 pages. It is suggested that it should include references strictly relevant to the problem addressed and to avoid inserting too many references in one citation.

- Page student, maximum of 2 pages.

- Reviews, 1 page maximum.

Participants' speech shall be presented in Italics, Arial, size 10 following the text. For the quoting  "verbatim litteres" , it should be used only quotes following the text.

Quote

Citations in the text should be made in a  numerically way, with single and consecutive numbering (order of appearance in the text), in Arabic numerals in superscript. If more than one reference is presented,it should separated by commas. Cite the author's name followed by the reference number only when absolutely necessary. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the authors.

References

All references must be cited in the text. They should be numbered consecutively in order of citation.

References should be sorted by author's last name in the same sequence as they appear in the text, and numbered. They should follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journal - Vancouver, JAMA, 1997; 277: 927-34. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.

The names of all authors should be cited until the maximum number of 6 (six). If there is the need to cite more authors, the first six should be given, followed by the expression, et al, in italics.

Abbreviations of titles of periodicals should follow the Index Medicus / MEDLINE, not in  bold, italics or underscored.

Examples:  

 - Book

Ramos DLP, Alves EGR. Profissionais de saúde: vivendo e convivendo com HIV/AIDS. 1. ed. São Paulo: Santos; 2002. 101 p.

- Book Chapter

Melani RFH. . Estudo do crânio na pesquisa da cor da pele. In: Silva M. Compêndio de Odontologia Legal. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Medsi; 1997. p. 149-69.

- Legal Documents

Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Resolução nº 79 de 28 de agosto de 2000. DO 169 de 31/08/2000. p. 1415-537.

- Essay, Dissertation and Thesis

Caputo IGC. Emergências médicas em consultório odontológico: implicações éticas e legais para o cirurgião dentista [Dissertação de Mestrado]. Piracicaba: Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba, FOP/UNICAMP; 2009.

- Periodical Article

Silva RF, Prado FB, Caputo IGC, Devito KL, Botelho TL, Daruge Junior E. The forensic importance of frontal sinus radiographs. J Forensic Legal Med. 2009; 16: 18-23.

Schwartz JH. The Skull. Em: Schwartz JH editor. Skeleton keys: an introduction to human skeletal morphology, development and analysis. New York: Oxford University Press; 1995; 23-78

Frias AC, Narvai PC, Araujo ME, Zilbovicius C, Antunes JLF. Custo da fluoretação das águas de abastecimento público, estudo de caso Município de São Paulo, Brasil, período de 1985-2003. Cad Saúde Pública. 2006; 22(6): 1237- 46.

- Company or Organization as an author

American Academy of Periodontology. Epidemiology of periodontal disease. J Periodontol. 1996; 67: 935-45.

Articles should be submitted in English and Portuguese and sent through this website

MODEL - Submission Letter and Copyright Transfer

We, (full name of the authors), authors of the article entitled (title of article), send it to the Editorial Board of this assessment, and in the event of publication, transfer to the "Brazilian Journal of Forensic Sciences, Medical Law and Bioethics magazine", all rights and copyright interests of the article mentioned above.

We certify that the article is original and that, in part or in full, has not been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere.

We declare that the contents of the article is not about plagiarism or fraud, and that each author has sufficiently participated in the work to take public responsibility for its content.

This agreement provides the publication of all information contained in the article and includes its adaptation, to be used in print or any electronic format.

Full Name, identification and signature of all authors.

Place and date

Brazilian Journal of Forensic Sciences Medical Law and Bioethics

A / C: Chief Editor: Instituto Paulista de Estudos Bioéticos e Jurídicos Ltda.

Address: Av. Senador César Vergueiro, 505, sala 16, Condomínio Empresarial Elshaddai, Jardim São Luis. CEP: 14020-500. Ribeirão Preto, SP.

Phone: (16) 36241724

E-mail: brazilianjournal@ipebj.com.br

Website: www.ipebj.com.br