TL;DR

• Penn Bioethics Journal publishes undergraduate and graduate student work in bioethics.

• Submissions must be original, unpublished, and formatted to journal guidelines.

• Peer review at PBJ is double-blind, so author identity must be removed from the manuscript.

• Knowing the scope before you write saves significant revision time.

• Submitting to the right journal matters as much as the quality of the paper itself.

You have written a paper on a bioethics topic. Maybe it is about gene editing, end-of-life care, vaccine policy, or the ethics of artificial intelligence in medicine. The paper is solid. Now you want to know whether the Penn Bioethics Journal is the right place to send it, and exactly how the submission process works.

That question is harder to answer than it looks. Most journal websites bury their submission requirements across multiple pages. Guidelines change. Word limits are inconsistently enforced. And for a student submitting for the first time, the process can feel deliberately opaque.

This post walks through everything you need to know about submitting to the Penn Bioethics Journal, from scope and eligibility to formatting and what happens after you hit send.

What Is the Penn Bioethics Journal?

The Penn Bioethics Journal (PBJ) is a peer-reviewed academic publication run by students at the University of Pennsylvania. It publishes original research and analysis in bioethics from undergraduate and graduate student authors. PBJ covers topics at the intersection of medicine, philosophy, law, and public policy. It is one of a small number of student-run journals in bioethics that operates a genuine double-blind peer review process.

PBJ has been publishing since 2004, making it one of the longer-running student bioethics journals in the United States. It is not affiliated with a commercial publisher, which means there are no article processing charges for authors. Submission and publication are free.

The journal publishes two issues per academic year. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis during open submission windows, which the editorial board announces at the start of each semester. Checking the journal's official website directly before submitting is the only reliable way to confirm current deadlines.

Who Can Submit to the Penn Bioethics Journal?

PBJ accepts submissions from current undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates submitting work completed during their degree. High school students are not listed as an eligible author category in PBJ's published guidelines. If you are a high school student, this is a critical point: submitting to a journal outside your eligibility category will result in desk rejection, regardless of the paper's quality.

If you are a high school student researching bioethics publication options, journals specifically designed for pre-university researchers are a more productive starting point. The Journal of Student Research scope, requirements, and submission process covers one such option in detail. For students in the sciences more broadly, the Journal of High School Science acceptance criteria and submission process is also worth reviewing.

For undergraduate and graduate students, eligibility is straightforward. You must be enrolled at an accredited institution at the time of submission, or have completed the work within the past twelve months as a student. Co-authored papers are accepted, and all authors must meet the eligibility criteria.

What Topics Does PBJ Publish?

PBJ publishes work in bioethics broadly defined, including clinical ethics, research ethics, public health ethics, neuroethics, environmental bioethics, and the ethics of emerging biotechnologies. Papers must engage substantively with ethical questions, not simply describe a scientific or medical situation. A paper that summarises CRISPR technology without analysing its ethical dimensions would fall outside scope.

The journal welcomes interdisciplinary approaches. A paper drawing on philosophy, law, sociology, and medicine simultaneously is entirely appropriate for PBJ. What the journal does not publish is purely empirical research without an ethical argument, or commentary pieces that lack scholarly grounding.

Reading two or three papers from a recent PBJ issue before you submit is the most reliable way to calibrate whether your work fits. The journal's archive is publicly accessible on its website. If your paper reads like the papers already published there, you are probably in the right place. If it reads like a biology lab report or a policy brief without ethical analysis, it is probably not the right fit.

If you are still deciding which journal to target, understanding the full submission process across multiple outlets helps. The guide on how to submit a research paper to a peer-reviewed journal covers the general process in detail and applies across disciplines.

How to Format Your Submission for the Penn Bioethics Journal

Formatting requirements for PBJ follow standard academic conventions with a few specifics worth noting. The journal asks for manuscripts submitted as Microsoft Word documents. PDFs are generally not accepted at the submission stage because editors need to be able to annotate and track changes during review.

The following formatting steps reflect PBJ's published guidelines. Always verify against the current submission page before you submit, as guidelines are updated periodically.

1. Set your manuscript to double-spaced text throughout, including footnotes and references.

2. Use a standard readable font such as Times New Roman at 12-point size.

3. Set margins to one inch on all sides.

4. Remove all identifying information from the manuscript itself. This includes your name, institution, acknowledgements, and any self-citations that would reveal your identity. PBJ uses double-blind review, meaning neither the reviewers nor the authors know each other's identities during the review process.

5. Prepare a separate title page that includes your name, institutional affiliation, paper title, word count, and contact email. This page is kept separate from the manuscript file so it is not seen by reviewers.

6. Include an abstract of 150 to 250 words summarising your argument, methodology, and conclusions.

7. Format citations using a consistent citation style throughout. PBJ accepts Chicago, APA, and MLA, but Chicago is most common in bioethics scholarship and is generally preferred.

Word count limits vary by submission type. Full research articles are typically expected to fall between 3,000 and 6,000 words, excluding references. Shorter commentary pieces may be accepted at 1,500 to 2,500 words. The journal's submission portal will specify the current limits for each category.

If you are working on your manuscript and want structured feedback before you submit, Publication Compass is a platform that lets student researchers submit drafts, receive detailed editorial feedback, and identify journals matched to their work. You can join the waitlist for early access while the platform is in beta.

How to Submit to the Penn Bioethics Journal: The Step-by-Step Process

Submitting to PBJ is done through the journal's online submission system. The process follows a clear sequence once you have your files prepared.

1. Go to the Penn Bioethics Journal website and navigate to the submissions page. Confirm that the submission window is currently open. PBJ does not accept submissions outside its designated windows, which are typically announced at the start of each semester.

2. Create an account in the submission system if you do not already have one. You will use this account to track the status of your submission after it is received.

3. Complete the submission form. This will ask for your paper title, abstract, keywords, author details, and institutional affiliation. You will also be asked to confirm that the work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not currently under review at another journal.

4. Upload your anonymised manuscript file and your separate title page as two distinct documents. Do not upload a single combined file.

5. Review your submission for completeness before finalising. Once submitted, you cannot edit the files without contacting the editorial team.

6. Submit and note your submission reference number. You will receive an automated confirmation email. If you do not receive this within 24 hours, check your spam folder and then contact the editorial team directly.

One question that comes up frequently at this stage is whether you can submit the same paper to PBJ and another journal at the same time. The answer is no. PBJ, like virtually all peer-reviewed journals, requires exclusive submission. The full reasoning behind this policy is explained in the guide on whether you can submit the same paper to two journals.

What Happens After You Submit to the Penn Bioethics Journal?

After submission, your paper goes through an initial editorial review. The editor-in-chief or a managing editor checks that the submission meets basic scope and formatting requirements. Papers that do not meet these requirements are desk-rejected at this stage, usually within two to four weeks.

Papers that pass the initial review are assigned to two or more peer reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Because PBJ operates a double-blind process, reviewers do not know who wrote the paper, and authors do not know who reviewed it. This is standard practice in academic publishing and is designed to reduce bias.

Review timelines at student-run journals vary. PBJ typically aims to return decisions within eight to twelve weeks, though this can extend during busy academic periods. If you have not received any communication after twelve weeks, it is reasonable to send a polite status inquiry to the editorial team.

Decisions come in four forms: accept, accept with minor revisions, major revisions required, or reject. A request for major revisions is not a rejection. It means the editors see potential in the paper but require substantive changes before it can be accepted. Responding carefully and thoroughly to reviewer comments significantly improves the likelihood of acceptance on resubmission.

Before submitting to PBJ, some authors choose to upload their work to a preprint server to establish priority and gather informal feedback. If you are considering this, read about what a preprint is and whether you should upload before submitting to understand how preprints interact with journal submission policies.

Frequently Asked Questions About Submitting to the Penn Bioethics Journal

Does the Penn Bioethics Journal charge submission or publication fees?

No. PBJ does not charge article processing charges, submission fees, or publication fees of any kind. It is a student-run, non-commercial journal. Authors pay nothing to submit or to have their work published. This makes it an accessible option for student researchers without institutional funding.

Can high school students submit to the Penn Bioethics Journal?

No. PBJ's published eligibility criteria cover undergraduate and graduate students at accredited institutions, and recent graduates submitting work completed during their degree. High school students fall outside this eligibility window. Students at the pre-university level should look at journals specifically designed for younger researchers, such as those reviewed in the guide on the Curieux Academic Journal acceptance rate, fees, and submission process.

How competitive is the Penn Bioethics Journal?

PBJ does not publish its acceptance rate publicly. Student-run peer-reviewed journals in bioethics are competitive because the field is specialised and the pool of eligible authors is large. Papers with a clear ethical argument, strong scholarly grounding, and careful attention to formatting and scope tend to perform better at the initial review stage than papers that are well-written but misaligned with the journal's focus.

What citation style does PBJ require?

PBJ accepts Chicago, APA, and MLA citation styles. Chicago is most commonly used in bioethics scholarship and is generally the preferred style for PBJ submissions. Whichever style you choose, apply it consistently throughout the entire manuscript, including footnotes and the reference list. Inconsistent citation formatting is a common reason for desk rejection.

Can I submit a paper I wrote for a class to the Penn Bioethics Journal?

Yes, provided the paper has not been published elsewhere and is not currently under review at another journal. Class papers often require significant revision before they meet the standards of peer-reviewed publication. The argument needs to be developed beyond what a course assignment typically demands, and the paper must engage with the existing scholarly literature in the field in a way that demonstrates independent research.

Moving Forward With Your Submission

Submitting to the Penn Bioethics Journal is a realistic goal for undergraduate and graduate students with a well-developed argument in bioethics. The process is clear once you know the steps: confirm eligibility, check the submission window, format your manuscript correctly, anonymise your files, and submit through the journal's online system. Responding thoroughly to reviewer feedback if you receive a revisions decision is often the difference between a paper that gets published and one that does not.

The most common reason strong papers are rejected at the initial stage is a mismatch between the paper's content and the journal's scope, or formatting errors that signal the author did not read the guidelines carefully. Both are avoidable. For more guidance on the publication process across different journals and disciplines, visit the Publication Compass blog.