Submit Your Article to BJLM
The British Journal of Longevity Medicine (BJLM) welcomes high-quality contributions that advance the science, clinical practice, education, policy, and broader understanding of longevity medicine.
BJLM considers submissions in the following categories:
1. Original research
2. Systematic reviews and evidence syntheses
3. Clinical studies
4. Service evaluations
5. Case reports and case series
6. Commentary and editorial pieces
7. Consensus statements and position papers
8. Educational and methodological articles
All submissions should be relevant to the scope of BJLM and should offer a clear contribution to the field.
How to Submit
1. Complete the BJLM submission form
Before sending your manuscript, please complete the BJLM Article Submission Form.
The form asks authors to confirm, where applicable:
– The manuscript is original.
– It has not been published previously.
– It is not under consideration by another journal.
– The manuscript has not been generated by artificial intelligence.
– All references follow the BJLM Vancouver referencing requirements.
– All authors have approved the submission.
– Author contributions have been accurately recorded.
– Relevant ethical approvals and consents have been obtained.
– Funding sources have been declared.
– Conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
– The author has read and understood the Article Processing Charge policy.
2. Prepare your manuscript
Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word format, using either `.doc` or `.docx`.
PDF files should not be submitted as the primary manuscript file. Figures, tables, supplementary files, and reporting checklists may be provided separately where appropriate.
3. Email your submission
Once the submission form has been completed, email the manuscript and any accompanying files to:
Please use the following email subject line:
‘BJLM Submission: [Article Title]’
Please include:
– Confirmation of completion of the BJLM submission form.
– The manuscript in Microsoft Word format.
– Figures and tables, where these are supplied separately.
– Supplementary material, where applicable.
– Relevant reporting checklists, such as CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, or other appropriate guidance.
– A cover letter, where applicable.
Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. All submissions are subject to editorial assessment and, where appropriate, peer review.
AI and Authorship
BJLM expects submitted articles to represent the authors’ own intellectual and scholarly work.
Authors must not use artificial intelligence tools to generate the substantive content of an article, including its scientific arguments, interpretation, conclusions, or references. AI-generated text may contain inaccurate statements, fabricated citations, misleading interpretations, or unattributed material.
Authors may use appropriate digital tools for limited administrative or language-support purposes, such as spelling, grammar, or formatting assistance. Any such use should be transparent and declared in the submission form and, where relevant, in the manuscript or acknowledgements.
BJLM may use appropriate methods, including software-based screening and editorial assessment, to identify AI-generated or machine-produced content. If an article appears to contain undisclosed AI-generated material, BJLM may request clarification, reject the manuscript, or take further action in accordance with applicable publication-ethics principles.
The authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and content of every submitted manuscript.
Why Publish with BJLM?
Open access
BJLM is committed to making published articles freely accessible to readers worldwide. Open-access publication helps researchers, clinicians, educators, policymakers, and members of the public access relevant work without a subscription barrier.
Peer review
Submissions are assessed by the editorial team and, where appropriate, undergo peer review by individuals with relevant subject expertise. Peer review supports the evaluation, improvement, and integrity of submitted work.
Visibility and promotion
Published articles may be promoted through BILM and BJLM professional networks, digital channels, and other appropriate communication platforms to help increase readership and engagement.
Quality and relevance
BJLM aims to publish well-structured, clearly written, appropriately referenced, and methodologically sound articles that contribute meaningfully to longevity medicine and related disciplines.
Peer Review and Editorial Assessment
Peer review is an important part of scholarly publishing. Reviewers may assess the manuscript’s:
– Relevance to BJLM.
– Originality and importance.
– Scientific or clinical rationale.
– Methodological quality.
– Ethical and regulatory compliance.
– Clarity of presentation.
– Quality and currency of references.
– Whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence presented.
A manuscript may be rejected or returned for revision for reasons including:
– Lack of a clear structure.
– Limited originality or insufficient contribution.
– Insufficient detail for readers to understand the work.
– Failure to explain the significance of the findings.
– Inadequate or outdated references.
– Conclusions that are not supported by the data, evidence, or arguments.
– Inadequate description of methods, materials, participants, or analysis.
– Poor clarity, grammar, or overall presentation.
– Failure to comply with BJLM submission requirements.
Editorial decisions are made independently and may take account of reviewer recommendations, although peer review does not guarantee acceptance.
Publication Ethics and Originality
Plagiarism
BJLM is committed to publishing original work. Manuscripts must not contain plagiarised, copied, unattributed, or improperly reproduced material.
Authors must ensure that:
– All words, ideas, data, figures, and tables from other sources are appropriately acknowledged.
– Permission has been obtained for material requiring permission to reproduce.
– Any previously disseminated or published material is clearly declared.
– The manuscript is not substantially similar to another submitted or published article.
BJLM may use plagiarism-detection software and editorial assessment to identify potential plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse, or other forms of redundant publication.
Duplicate or simultaneous submission
A manuscript must not be submitted to BJLM while it is under consideration by another journal. It must not have been published previously in whole or in substantial part.
Authors must disclose relevant prior publication or dissemination, including:
– Conference abstracts.
– Preprints.
– Institutional reports.
– Earlier versions of the manuscript.
– Related articles using the same dataset.
Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is not acceptable.
Data integrity
BJLM does not permit fabrication, falsification, selective manipulation, or misleading presentation of data, images, citations, or results.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that:
– The data are accurately represented.
– Images and figures have not been inappropriately manipulated.
– Statistical analyses are appropriately reported.
– Limitations are stated clearly.
– Conclusions are proportionate to the evidence.
Suspected research misconduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or referral to the relevant institution or authority.
Authorship and Contributions
All individuals who made a substantial contribution to the work should be included as authors. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
Before submission, all authors should:
– Review and approve the final manuscript.
– Agree to the author list and order.
– Confirm their specific contribution.
– Agree to submission to BJLM.
– Accept responsibility for the integrity of their contribution.
The corresponding author is responsible for communication with BJLM and should ensure that all authors are aware of the submission and its status.
Conflicts of Interest and Funding
All authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests.
Potential conflicts may include:
– Employment or consultancy.
– Advisory or speaker arrangements.
– Honoraria.
– Research grants.
– Sponsorship.
– Stock ownership or options.
– Patents or intellectual property.
– Institutional, professional, or personal relationships.
– Other interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.
If there are no relevant conflicts, authors should state:
‘The author(s) declare(s) no conflict of interest.’
All sources of funding must also be declared. Where applicable, authors should describe the role of the funder in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit.
Article Preparation
Cover letter
A cover letter should normally be no more than 500 words and should include:
– The article title and article type.
– The purpose and significance of the submission.
– The principal contribution or novelty of the work.
– Confirmation that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.
– Details of any related publication or prior dissemination.
– Relevant ethical, funding, or conflict-of-interest information.
Title
The title should be concise, informative, and relevant to the content of the article. BJLM recommends a maximum length of 160 characters, including spaces.
Author details
Provide the following information for every author:
– Full name.
– Professional or academic qualifications, where relevant.
– Department or division.
– Institution or organisation.
– City and country.
– ORCID iD, where available.
The corresponding author should also provide a telephone number and email address.
Abstract
The abstract should accurately summarise the article and should generally not exceed 250 words.
For original research and clinical studies, the abstract should normally include:
– Aims or objective.
– Methods.
– Results.
– Conclusion.
References should not be included in the abstract.
Keywords
Provide up to five keywords. Avoid abbreviations and select terms that accurately reflect the article’s subject matter.
Introduction
The Introduction should:
– Establish the background and relevance of the topic.
– Summarise the relevant literature.
– Identify the problem, knowledge gap, or clinical need.
– State the aims or objectives of the article.
Methods
Where applicable, the Methods section should provide enough detail to allow readers to understand and assess the work. Include information about:
– Study design.
– Participants or data sources.
– Materials, interventions, or comparators.
– Outcomes and endpoints.
– Statistical or analytical methods.
– Ethical and regulatory approvals.
– Registration details for clinical trials.
– Consent procedures.
Results
Present the findings clearly and objectively. Results should contain sufficient detail to support the conclusions and should not duplicate information unnecessarily across the text, tables, and figures.
Discussion
The Discussion should interpret the findings in the context of the existing evidence. It should address the strengths and limitations of the work and avoid introducing unsupported conclusions or repeating the Introduction.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements may include:
– Individuals who contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship.
– Administrative, technical, or editorial support.
– Funding sources.
– Grant numbers.
– The contribution associated with each funding source.
Figures, Tables and Supplementary Material
Figures
Figures should be clear, appropriately labelled, and cited in the manuscript in numerical order.
Preferred formats include:
– JPEG.
– PNG.
Each figure should have a relevant title and explanatory legend. Figure legends should not be unnecessarily duplicated in the main text.
Tables
Tables should be numbered and cited in the manuscript. Each table should contain:
– A clear title.
– Sufficient explanatory information.
– Appropriate units and definitions.
– Data that add value rather than simply repeating the text.
Tables may be submitted within the Word document or as separate files if requested by the editorial team.
Supplementary material
Supplementary files may include additional tables, figures, datasets, videos, protocols, or other relevant material.
Please name supplementary items consistently, for example:
– Figure S1.
– Table S1.
– Video S1.
– Dataset S1.
All supplementary material must be cited in the main manuscript.
Referencing Requirements
All references submitted to BJLM must use the Vancouver referencing style.
Vancouver is a numbered referencing system commonly used in biomedical and clinical publishing. References should be:
– Numbered consecutively according to the order in which they first appear in the text.
– Cited using the corresponding Arabic number in parentheses or superscript, consistently throughout the manuscript.
– Listed in the same numerical order at the end of the article.
– Reused under the same number when the same source is cited again.
– Checked carefully for accuracy and completeness.
The reference list should not be arranged alphabetically.
For example:
‘Previous studies have identified an association between biological ageing and chronic disease.¹’
Authors should verify author names, article titles, journal abbreviations, publication year, volume, issue, page range, and DOI or URL where appropriate.
Ethical and Regulatory Requirements
Authors must obtain and report the relevant approvals and consents for their work.
Depending on the article type, this may include:
– Research ethics committee approval.
– Institutional review board approval.
– Informed consent from participants.
– Consent for publication of case reports.
– Clinical trial registration.
– Animal research approval.
– Data-protection and confidentiality safeguards.
– Permission to reproduce copyrighted content.
The relevant approval body, reference number, registration number, and consent statement should be included in the manuscript where applicable.
Article Processing Charge
The publishing fee for accepted manuscripts is £438.
This fee is set substantially below many comparable journals and helps cover essential costs, including:
– Editorial handling.
– Peer review administration.
– Online publication.
– Website hosting.
– Digital preservation.
– Long-term access to published articles.
BILM and BJLM would prefer to remove this barrier entirely. However, a fee is currently necessary to help keep the journal operating and to support the continued development of longevity medicine as a field.
The APC is payable only after the manuscript has completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication. Payment is expected before the galley proof is provided to the authors.
Payment of the APC does not influence editorial decisions, peer-review outcomes, or acceptance. Acceptance is based on the editorial and peer-review process.
Authors are encouraged to monitor the BILM Grants pages, as awards, prizes, or funding opportunities may occasionally be available to waive the APC or recognise outstanding submissions. These opportunities may include prizes for the best submissions.
Withdrawal Policy
Authors are expected to submit work in good faith and to avoid withdrawing a manuscript without a compelling reason.
A withdrawal request should:
1. Be submitted to BJLM in writing.
2. Explain the reason for withdrawal.
3. Be signed or approved by all authors.
4. Confirm that the work has not been submitted elsewhere.
5. Confirm that the manuscript’s data and content are original or appropriately permitted.
Withdrawal after submission may result in an administrative charge where substantial editorial, peer-review, production, or administrative resources have already been used.
Once an article has been formally published, withdrawal will generally not be possible. Any correction or retraction will be handled in accordance with applicable publication-ethics principles.
Final Submission Checklist
Before emailing your article, confirm that:
– The article is appropriate for one of BJLM’s accepted article categories.
– The manuscript is in Microsoft Word format.
– The submission form has been completed.
– All authors have approved the final manuscript.
– The manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
– The article has not been generated by AI.
– Any permitted AI-assisted language or formatting support has been disclosed.
– References follow Vancouver style.
– All references are accurate and numbered in order of first citation.
– Funding has been declared.
– Conflicts of interest have been declared.
– Ethical approval and consent statements are included where applicable.
– Figures, tables, and supplementary files are clearly labelled.
– Relevant reporting checklists have been completed.
– The corresponding author’s details are included.
– You understand that the APC for accepted manuscripts is £438 and is payable before galley proofs are provided.
Submit Your Manuscript
After completing the submission form, please email your manuscript and supporting files in Word format to:
Please use the subject line:
‘BJLM Submission: [Article Title]’
For questions about submission, article types, formatting, peer review, or APCs, contact contact@bilm.org.uk.