Author Guidelines

General Information for Authors

  • Editorial focus
  • Audience
  • Publishing model
  • Article types
  • Authorship and related information
  • Criterion for publication
  • Article Processing Charge
  • Waiver policy
  • Refund policy
  • Competing interests
  • Open access
  • Embargo policy

Blockchain in Healthcare Today (BHTY) is the world’s first peer reviewed open access journal that amplifies and disseminates distributed ledger technology research and innovations in the healthcare information systems, clinical computing, network technologies and biomedical sciences. Fields of interest include utility for data integrity, privacy preservation, health information systems interoperability, permissioned security for health data, clinical support and clinical trials management, supply chain management, revenue cycle automation, cost and impact, and the integration of AI and machine learning tools in this emerging specialty field of research.

The preeminent international journal is published on a continuous basis to accelerate sharing rigorously vetted theoretical and experiential knowledge required for a global multi-disciplinary ecosystem. A world-class peer review board endeavors to offer rapid peer review and includes constructive commentary to strengthen work.

Editorial focus:

  • USE CASES:  contact tracing,  supply chains and management, distributed data storage, security and privacy, cybersecurity, enterprise grade, discovery frameworks, roadmaps, key learnings from successful and unsuccessful experiences
  • SPECIAL REPORTS: public health impact, pandemic core challenges and opportunities with DLT, consensus statements, guidelines and recommendations from a task force or work group, technology adoption and market trends, regulatory healthcare compliance and the impact of relaxed policies. These manuscripts are neither reviews nor original reports of primary research. 
  • MODELS for TRUST: Zero knowledge proofs and data privacy, Secure multiparty computation and privacy preserving technology, consensus algorithms and data provenance, transactional data sharing and integrity.  
  • NEW BUSINESS MODELS: value based health economics, incentive models, cashless economy, internet of value, ecosystem structure and dynamics, scalability, sustainability, and disintermediation
  • HIT: Electronic Health Records, interoperability, medical devices, clinical trials, provenance,  Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, sensors, smart  homes and health environments
  • LEGAL, REGULATORY, GOVERNANCE and ETHICS: health ploicy, regulation, governance, consumer protection, ethical considerations for new technology, health insurance, fraud, liability, indemnification
  • EDUCATION: technology fundamentals, innovation management, managing digital transformation, workforce transformation

In addiion, BHTY publishes a BLOG, where authors can share experiences and reflections including commentary, discussion and debate on any aspect of healthcare, policy, and technology around the globe. The submission should be approximately1000 words. There is no APC for BLOG submissions.

  • Submission Categories

    Authors around the globe are invited to submit manuscripts in the following categories:

    • Original Research
    • Proof of Concept//Pilots/Methodologies
    • Use Case
    • Production/Deployment
    • Narrative/Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analysis
    • Clinical Case Studies
    • Technical Briefs & Reports
    • Editorial or Discussions

    For further details and descriptions, please visit Information for Authors & Editorial Policies at https://blockchainhealthcaretoday.com/index.php/journal/authors

Audience

Blockchain in Healthcare Today‘s audience includes leadership from research, payer organizations, business, universities, consultants, entrepreneurs/startups, biopharma/device/pharmacy, government, policy, NGO, engineers, health information technologists, cybersecurity, auditors, computational engineers, computer scientists, data scientists, healthcare network users, public health, hospitals and innovation labs across the globe and invites all those with an interest in the latest knowledge on blockchain technology and DLT to its community.

Publishing model

Open Access enables the free publication to everyone, of research, sharing of information, and reuse with no restrictions. Open access articles can be identified by the Creative Commons copyright statement that appears at the end of articles published.

BHTY revenue model consists primarily of commercial support and related initiatives conducted under the auspices of the journal, such as conferences, summits, and roundtables.

ARTICLE TYPES

Please note, there are no word counts or limitations. Submissions must have references in the Vancouver Style as recommended by ICJME (see References for more details).

Original research: These are detailed studies reporting original research in which blockchain technology has played a significant role. They include hypothesis, background study, methods, results, interpretation of findings, and a discussion of possible implications. Randomized, controlled trials, case series, cohort studies, pilot studies, and meta-analysis are also examples of original research that BHTY accepts for this category. As applicable, financial, and quality of care implications should also be explored.

Proof of Concept: Demonstrate feasibility to verify real world application, potential value and learnings. Examples such as interoperability, system integration and deployment may be topics. Use cases may also be submitted under this category. If possible, BHTY asks the author(s) to include examination of the financial impact the product or service may have on the marketplace.

Special Reports: Encompass manuscripts that are neither reviews nor original reports of primary research. These Special Reports may include consensus statements, guidelines, statements from a reputable task force or work group, or recommendations. Submissions must be original, based upon a high level of evidence, have contemporaneous relevance to blockchain implementation, and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions from groups must explicitly state all contributing members in developing the work including affiliations.

Special Reports should not exceed 15,000 words of body text and 250 words for the abstract A limit of 100 references is recommended. Submitting supplemental files, and use of tables and figures to summarize critical points is strongly encouraged. Upon acceptance, BHTY will typeset the Report and include all relevant interactive links.

Review article: Review articles give an overview of existing literature, with emphasis on blockchain technology, often identifying specific problems or issues and analyzing information from available published work on the topic with a balanced perspective. Review articles can be of three types: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. The goal of this article type is to identify specific problems or issues and analyze information from available published work on the topic with a balanced perspective. Note: meta-analyses should be submitted as original research.

Clinical case study: Clinical case studies present the details of real patient cases from medical or clinical practice in which blockchain technology played a significant role. The cases presented are usually those that contribute significantly to the existing knowledge on the field. The study is expected to discuss signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of a disease.

Clinical trial: Clinical trials describe the methodology, implementation, and results of controlled studies in which blockchain technology played a significant role. Please see “Format” and “Manuscript” sections below under “Journal Information.”

Technical Briefs: 1500 word limit. These reports focus on blockchain technology in healthcare and present design, challenges, new technologies and applications, standards, performance analysis and optimization to concisely communicate information obtained through a process of technical or experimental work. 

Perspective, opinion, and interview: These are scholarly reviews of fundamental concepts or prevalent ideas in a field of blockchain technology. A perspective piece can be a review of a single concept or a few related concepts. These articles may represent an expert opinion or considered point of view, alerts of potential problems, observations, comments, controversies and opinions. It can contain a single concept or several related concepts.

In addiion, BHTYpublishes a BLOG, where authors can share experiences and reflections including commentary, discussion and debate on any aspect of healthcare, policy, and technology around the globe. The submission should be approximately1000 words.

Note: BHTY authors are encouraged to share both positive and negative experience in the blockchain sector. This can help efforts, planned and underway, in the sector. We are committed to providing a fair and objective forum for all perspectives and experiences.

Authorship and related information

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has published the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” (ICMJE Recommendations, formerly “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts”). BHTY endeavors to follow, the ICMJE recommendations for scholarly work in medical journals, as it aspires to adhere to the highest standards of scholarly publication practices. Details may be obtained here. BHTY requires these guidelines and recommendations are met for authors submitting papers to BHTY for review and publication.

Below you will find the "Role of Authors and Contributors" as outlined by ICMJE. Should you wish for a more detailed explanation, please click here. BHTY follows the criteria.

"Manuscripts should only be submitted for consideration once authorization of all contributing authors is gathered. The list of authors will include those who can legitimately claim authorship. This includes all those who:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authors will meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author will have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the submission's content."

Obtaining funding, collecting of data, or overall supervision of a research group does not qualify authorship. Contributors who do not meet the criteria above can be listed in the Acknowledgments section of your manuscript submission. See the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines for "Non-Author Contributors" on the bottom of this link."

CRITERIA FOR PUBLICATION

BHTY applies rigorous editorial and peer review conducted by a team of independent expert professional editors in the field.

Within the scope of the journal, as noted above, manuscripts should represent:

  • Originality and practicality in advancing blockchain in the value based care environment
  • Importance to research, practice, or change in the field
  • Interest and relevance for the BHTY audience and those with an interest in blockchain technology in healthcare
  • Rigorous methodology, with conclusions justified by the evidence presented
  • Adherence to the highest ethical standards

Article Processing Fee:

BHTY’s Article Processing Charge (APC) for the international specialty journal is $1450.00 USD for original research articles, $1650.00 USD for Special Reports (15,000 words and upwards of 100 references), and $800.00 USD for students currently enrolled at an academic institution. Please plan accordingly. Please see below for details regarding the BHTY waiver policy. THERE IS NO FEE FOR BLOGS.

BHTY is pleased to offer authors the option of paying their APC with digital currency (Bitcoin). Contact the publisher for more information if you would like to use this payment method at t.cenaj@partnersindigitalhealth.com

Open access (OA) journals provide unrestricted, immediate online access to peer-reviewed scholarly research.

What does the article-processing charge (APC) cover?
Costs are involved in every stage of the publication process, including software, platform hosting, copyediting, production, proofs, graphics, archiving on dedicated servers, time stamping article provenance on the distributed ledger and providing custom dashboards to authors, membership to appropriate scholarly publishing organizations such as STM, COPE, Altmetric, ScienceOpen and many others, management of database and lists, social media dissemination and writing, market research and journal amplification, coding for journal plugins and new features, and compensation for work performed and commissioned (this does not include peer review or board members).

Waiver policy

BHTY has a waiver policy for authors from lower-middle income countries as per the World Bank (click here for details). We give fair consideration to all submissions, and believe this should not be linked to the ability to pay.

Where limited funding is available to authors, BHTY can provide a complete or partial waiver to authors on request, AFTER, an article is accepted. We review papers based strictly on MERIT. The quality and contribution it makes to the sector supersedes the APC. We believe this is paramount for fair and open exchange. 

Refund policy

There are no refunds for open access articles once published. There is a $350.00 USD fee for corrections after the article is published.

There is no fee for non-research or "feature" articles published, although they too, undergo peer review.

Competing interests

BHTY editors are not paid a fixed salary. Editors, editorial board members, and peer reviewers are required to declare all relevant competing interests and do not participate in the review of any submission for which they may have a competing interest.

BHTY requires all peer reviewers, editorial board members and journal staff to disclose relevant financial relationships.  An individual has a relevant financial relationship if he/she and/or a spouse or partner had a financial relationship in any amount occurring in the last 12 months with a commercial interest (i.e., any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or service consumed by, or used on, patients. Stocks, ICO etc.) Conflict of interest statements are located at https://blockchainhealthcaretoday.com/index.php/journal/coi

Open access

There are no fees to view and obtain full access to content. BHTY is a gold open access journal.

BHTY articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.  BHTY makes all open access articles freely available on BHTY website from the date of publication. Journalists, PIOs and bloggers must credit BHTY as the source and provide a link to the journal and/or the original article in online coverage.

Open access articles are owned by the author and can be identified by the Creative Commons copyright statement that appears at the end of the article and takes the following form:

“This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, adapt, enhance this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0.”
or
“This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, adapt and enhance this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.”

Embargo Policy: 

The content of accepted articles cannot appear in print, on media outlets, or electronic form (including blogs and discussion groups), prior to publication on the BHTY website. Abstracts of work may be presented at scientific conferences.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT FOR AUTHORS

1. Submission Information

2. Journal Information, Peer Review and Editorial Process