Focus and Scope

Traditionally, the existential and spiritual aspects of illness and their relationship to healthcare outcomes have received limited attention within the educational and research environment of Western medicine. In recognition of this fact, the McGill University Programs in Whole Person Care were instituted in 1999 by the Faculty of Medicine.The Programs are based on the premise that in situations in which treatment is unable to modify the disease outcome, it may be possible to create a space in which healing can occur. While the existential/spiritual domain is known to be an important determinant of quality of life, there has been little emphasis on integration of these issues in healthcare systems. Programs in Whole Person Care therefore seek to integrate the physical aspects of personhood along with the psychological, cultural, social and existential/spiritual ones, and to respond to suffering experienced by the whole person within his or her particular context. This Journal will showcase the efforts of healthcare professionals and their patients, researchers and others working on these issues from a transdisciplinary perspective around the world with the aim to treat the person holistically with dignity and compassion.It will also encompass the whole person of the practitioner based on the postulate that well professionals foster well-being in those they serve.

The views expressed by contributors to the IJWPC do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, the Editorial and Review Boards, or McGill University. Authors are responsible for following normal standards of scholarship and for ensuring that whenever the research involves human subjects, the appropriate consents are obtained from such subjects and all approvals are obtained from the appropriate ethics review board.

Peer Review Process

Papers submitted to the Theoretical, Empirical Studies and Case Studies/Narratives sections of the journal will be subject to a double-blind review process. Authors are requested to submit the names of 3 potential reviewers. Those submitted to the Commentary section will be reviewed by Editors.

This journal uses double-blind review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process.  

To facilitate this, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not give away their identity. 

Information to help prepare the Blinded Manuscript

Besides the obvious need to remove names and affiliations under the title within the manuscript, there are other steps that need to be taken to ensure the manuscript is correctly prepared for double-blind peer review.  To assist with this process the key items that need to be observed are as follows:

• Use the third person to refer to work the Authors have previously undertaken, e.g. replace any phrases like “as we have shown before” with “… has been shown before [Anonymous, 2007]” .
• Make sure figures do not contain any affiliation related identifier
• Do not eliminate essential self-references or other references but limit self-references only to papers that are relevant for those reviewing the submitted paper.
• Cite papers published by the Author in the text as follows:  ‘[Anonymous, 2007]’.
• For blinding in the reference list:  ‘[Anonymous 2007] Details omitted for double-blind reviewing.’
• Remove references to funding sources
• Do not include acknowledgments
• Remove any identifying information, including author names, from file names and ensure document properties are also anonymized.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.Please visit the McGill University Library website for more information about Open Access initiatives at McGill.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The following publications ethics and publication malpractice statement is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. 

Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Publication Decisions 

Editors are responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published. Editors will evaluate manuscripts without regard to the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation. Publication decisions will be based on the manuscript’s importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism will also be considered. 

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. 

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used by editors for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the submission. 

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editors in making publication decisions and, through editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript. 

Promptness

Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible will immediately notify the editors and withdraw from the review process. 

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review will be treated as confidential documents. They will not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editors. 

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews will be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. 

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers will identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. They will point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by acknowledgments of the respective sources. Reviewers will notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other material (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge. 

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used by reviewers for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Reviewers will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the submission. 

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Originality, Plagiarism, and Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors will submit only entirely original works and will appropriately cite the work of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. 

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication or Submission

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Manuscripts that have been published elsewhere cannot be submitted. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. 

Authorship of the Manuscript

All those who have made a significant contribution to the submitted manuscript should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author will ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication. 

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed as having influenced their manuscript’s results or interpretation. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. 

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his or her own published article, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors or publisher and to cooperate with editors to retract or correct the article in the form of an erratum.