Instructions for submitting a Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor are considered for publication, subject to editing and abridgment, provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere.
Letters must not exceed 500 words (excluding references) and must be received within 6 months of publication of a related article, if applicable. Letters may be submitted directly from an article's web page using the "Submit a Letter" option, or may be sent by email. A letter may have no more than five references and one figure or table. Tables must be submitted electronically as Word or Excel files. A letter may be signed by no more than three authors. We do not print letters cc’d to us. Include your full mailing address, telephone number, and email address with your letter.
We acknowledge receipt of letters within 2 business days. If you do not receive confirmation that we received your letter, please follow up with us; your submission may have been caught in our spam filter.
We do not provide prepublication proofs. Submission of a letter constitutes permission for the BCMJ to use it in the journal’s print and electronic publications and in collections, revisions, and any other form or medium.
Submit to the editor-in-chief, BCMJ, at: journal@doctorsofbc.ca
BCMJ policy on publishing anonymous content
In most cases, content published in the BCMJ must be accompanied by the author’s name. On occasion the Editorial Board will accept a letter or other content and allow it to be published anonymously. To be considered for anonymous publication, the author must accept that their name will be known by the members of the BCMJ Editorial Board and staff. The Board and staff maintain strict confidentiality, so the writer may be assured that their identity will remain confidential.
To be considered for anonymous publication, the author must demonstrate:
- A legitimate fear of reprisal or retaliation by an identifiable person or body (e.g., a regulating body, a university) should their name be published. Reprisal/retaliation may take various forms; for example: loss of employment, loss of career advancement, loss of access to colleagues or resources, and so on.
or
- A legitimate concern that having their identity known would result in undue social stigma (e.g., around addictions, gender identity, etc.).
If the content refers to a specific person or entity (e.g., a doctor, hospital, or health authority), in the interest of balance and fairness, the BCMJ Editorial Board will normally give that party the opportunity to respond. In these cases, even if an author presents legitimate reasons for anonymity, their request may be rejected if a named person or entity is unable to respond due to patient confidentiality.
Because of a general bias against anonymous content, the value and benefits of sharing the information, as well as the reasons for anonymity, must be clear and compelling.