Aims and Scope
Aims and Scope
The Journal of Death (JOD) publishes original research, reviews and scholarly commentary on death, dying, bereavement and end-of-life care, from clinical, psychological, social, cultural, ethical and legal perspectives.
Aims
Why the journal exists
Death is studied in many places at once: at the bedside and in the hospice, in grief counseling and suicide prevention, in courts and legislatures, in funeral homes and cemeteries, and in the classroom. JOD provides one open-access venue in which this work can be read together.
- to publish methodologically sound research that informs end-of-life care, bereavement support, education, practice and policy;
- to support dialogue between the clinical, social and humanistic disciplines that study death and dying;
- to report research with dying and bereaved people with the ethical care and respect that it requires;
- to make this scholarship freely available to researchers, practitioners, educators, policymakers and the public.
Scope
Fields covered
The journal considers research on how people die, how they are cared for at the end of life, and how individuals and communities live with loss. The fields below are illustrative; topics include, but are not limited to, the following.
- i.
End-of-life care
Palliative and hospice care, symptom management, prognosis and communication about serious illness, advance care planning, and the experience of dying patients, families and care staff.
- ii.
Grief and bereavement
Grieving processes across the lifespan, anticipatory and prolonged grief, death anxiety, bereavement support and interventions, and the effects of loss on families and communities.
- iii.
Suicide prevention and postvention
Research on suicide risk and prevention, and on support for people bereaved by suicide and for the communities and professionals affected.
- iv.
Ethics, law and policy
End-of-life decision-making, medical aid in dying and euthanasia, advance directives and surrogate decisions, organ donation, the determination of death, death investigation, and the legal and policy frameworks that govern dying and death.
- v.
Culture, ritual and funeral practice
Death rituals and mourning across societies and periods, funeral and memorial practices, digital memorialization, death in media and literature, and the funeral and death-care professions.
- vi.
Death education
The design and evaluation of programs that prepare health professionals, students and the public to talk about death and to care for dying and bereaved people.
Disciplines. Thanatology, palliative medicine, nursing, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, bioethics and law.
Research the journal considers
Methods and approaches
JOD welcomes quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research; clinical and health-services studies; evaluations of interventions, services and education programs; systematic and narrative reviews; and historical, philosophical, legal and cultural analysis. Studies from every country and setting are considered, including comparative and cross-cultural work.
Conclusions should be proportionate to the evidence presented. Reporting guidelines and ethical requirements apply where relevant to the study design; they are listed in the Instructions for Authors and Editorial Policies.
Scope boundary
Manuscripts should address death, dying, bereavement or end-of-life care directly. Studies in which mortality appears only as an outcome measure, without attention to dying, death or loss, are generally better suited to a journal in the relevant clinical field. Unsupported opinion is not considered; perspectives, commentaries and letters should be grounded in evidence or scholarly argument.
Article types
What the journal publishes
| Article type | Description |
|---|---|
| Original Research | Empirical studies using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. |
| Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, following a stated protocol. Scoping reviews are included in this type. |
| Review | Narrative or critical reviews of a defined body of literature, including historical, philosophical and legal analysis. |
| Methods | New or adapted research methods, instruments or theoretical frameworks, with evidence of their use or validity. |
| Short Communication | Concise reports of preliminary or focused findings. |
| Case Report | Reports of individual cases or case series that offer insight for care, practice or policy. |
| Perspective or Commentary | Evidence-based scholarly argument on a question in the field. |
| Book Review | Critical reviews of recent books relevant to the journal's scope. |
| Letter | Brief responses to articles published in JOD or short reports of scholarly interest. |
Editorial assessment
How submissions are assessed
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review. Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. All article types follow the same editorial process.
Submit
Submit a manuscript to JOD
If you are unsure whether a manuscript falls within the scope, you are welcome to contact the editorial office before submission.