Pediatric Ethicscope: The Journal of Pediatric Ethics is a peer-reviewed clinical and academic journal dedicated to presenting the work of multidisciplinary contributors sharing diverse, nuanced perspectives on issues in pediatric ethics, bioethics and clinical ethics. In an effort to democratize knowledge of the important issues in pediatric ethics, the journal is OA platinum; we charge fees to neither readers nor authors. This is made possible by support from our home institution, the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics. The journal is further supported by a renown editorial board well-known for their knowledge and wisdom in the areas of pediatric ethics, bioethics, and clinical ethics:
Douglas Diekema, MD, MPH
Jacqueline Glover, PhD
John Lantos, MD
Mark Mercurio, MD, MA
Christine Mitchell, RN, MS, MTS
Jonathon Moreno, PhD
Lainie Ross, MD, PhD
Cynda Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN
Yoram Unguru, MD, MS, MA
Pediatric Ethicscope has been produced for the past 30 years, published biannually. More about the journal’s history can be found here. The journal publishes original research, review articles, case studies, short and long form issue analyses, grand rounds, point/counterpoint segments, interviews with prominent ethicists, book reviews, and reports on ethics education opportunities.
The journal accepts manuscripts in all aforementioned categories within our defined scope: issues in pediatric ethics, pediatric clinical ethics cases and practices, and matters of bioethics policy affecting children and families. Please see For Authors for more information on our submittal and peer-review processes, and contact the editors with any further questions.
Issues are released in both PDF format and as the HTML found below. Issue PDFs can be read online or downloaded using the link, “Download Print Version PDF” to the right of this text. Thank you for your interest in Pediatric Ethicscope.
Referral for Extracorporeal Life Support in Newborns with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
These...life-sustaining innovative therapies that require an ethical framework for shared decision-making with families and medical teams. We suggest a way of structuring team education to benefit urgent ECLS decisions for newborns with moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Embracing Diagnostic Uncertainty
Doctors revise their diagnostic strategy to provide a timely and meaningful prognosis in accordance with parental goals. This narrative discusses issues of diagnostic uncertainty and the value of relying on clinical gestalt when trying to prioritize medical tests for a sick patient.
Dialogue with the Ethicist: Chris Feudtner MD, PhD
Chris Feudtner MD, PhD, MPH visited Washington, D.C. this past Spring to give the Sanford L. Leikin Lecture Memorial Lecture for Ethics in Pediatric Care at Children’s National Medical Center. Following the lecture, he sat down with hospital staff, ethics committee members, and local ethicists to discuss a past case.
Transgressing Moral Imperatives
Providers of critically ill pediatric patients encounter complex, morally distressing situations. However, ethical training is limited and current approaches to ethics consultation may not meet the emotional and debriefing needs of providers.
The decision to discuss sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) presents a complicated ethical picture with potentially conflicting principles. The neurologist must decide how to disclose and discuss the problem of SUDEP, balancing the desire to help families by empowering them, without doing harm by overwhelming them with fear.
Ethical issues in Genetics Research
While not different than with other kinds of research, issues in genetics research involving children can present differently and can be more challenging to manage
The Inclusion Of Children In Non-therapeutic Medical Research
The debate about non-therapeutic pediatric research occurs over the balance between protecting child participants and ensuring the knowledge we need to threat the conditions children suffer from.
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