General
The World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) 2024 is titled “Religion, Culture, and Global Bioethics” with the goal of exploring the intricate relationship between these fundamental elements. Everyone is welcome, including bioethicists engaged in secular approaches to bioethics. In addition to addressing secular bioethical perspectives, WCB 2024 will address the interplay of religion, culture, and bioethics. This inclusive approach aims to facilitate a diverse range of voices and perspectives, fostering constructive dialogue and critical discourse. Ultimately, this endeavor seeks to bolster the global contribution and influence of the scholarly field of bioethics.
Abstract submission guidelines
- For each abstract, submit to either the World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) or the Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (FAB), not both. Please do not submit identical or slightly modified abstracts to both WCB and FAB.
- Only online submissions, via the assigned submission link, will be considered. (Login if you have already started your submission)
- Regardless of author order, there is a 2-abstract limit and a 300-word limit for each abstract.
- Only abstracts submitted in English or Arabic will be considered.
- Early submission is strongly encouraged.
- Please note that the submission guidelines may slightly change. So, please keep checking this.
Author information
- Identify a corresponding author who assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all submitted information and for communicating with the host institution.
- Identify at least one presenting author. Presenting authors must register for the Congress if the abstract is accepted; non-presenters are not required to register.
- Include a short bio (max. 50 words) for each contributing author. This information will be included in the Congress program, exactly as entered.
- Indicate if you plan to attend in person or online. The WCB is a hybrid event. Registered participants may present and/or attend presentations either in person or online.
Topics and themes
The WCB 2024 theme is “Religion, Culture, and Global Bioethics”. This theme aims to engage bioethics researchers from a broad range of fields and disciplines and to take full advantage of hosting the WCB in the Arab-Muslim world and the Middle East. Submissions representing religious studies, social sciences, anthropology, and Middle Eastern studies are especially welcome. We also welcome submissions reflecting diverse religious traditions, including Islamic bioethics, Christian Bioethics, Jewish bioethics, Buddhist bioethics, Confucian bioethics, Hindu bioethics, etc. Finally, we welcome submissions that combine both secular and religious approaches to bioethics. Our aim is to foster rich scholarly conversation at the Congress and beyond.
- Select 1 or 2 general topics that your abstract falls under
- For each general topic selected, choose up to 3 subtopics
- Methodologies adopted by religious traditions to develop bioethical reasoning rooted in their value-systems
- How religious bioethics interacts with other religious or secular perspectives
- Risk-benefit analysis in the light of religious beliefs and biomedical information on complex bioethical issues, e.g., assisted reproductive technologies, abortion, organ transplantation, euthanasia, etc.
- Comparative analysis of intra-, inter-religious and religious-secular bioethical deliberations
- Bioethical challenges in interfaith healthcare contexts
- Use of moral reasoning in religious discourses on bioethical issues
- Anthropological perspectives on bioethics
- Sociological perspectives on bioethics
- Role of cultural values in bioethical decision- and policy-making
- Impact of culture on social determinants of health, sickness and related concepts
- Community-based research ethics
- Impact of culture on healthcare access and outcome
- Cultural and social attitudes toward healthcare, health, and illness
- Human dignity and physical integrity
- Bioethical issues at the beginning and end of human life, e.g., personhood, ensoulment, Halakhic approach to withholding vs. withdrawing care, rational suicide
- Human nature and its techno-scientific shaping
- Autonomy and related concepts, e.g., rights of God vs. rights of humans, person identity
- Relation and related concepts, e.g., family, civility, harmony, solidarity, Confucian filial piety
- Stigmatization, e.g., Japanese seken-tei, saving face, Shinto kegare
- Principlism and related concepts, e.g., higher objectives (maqasid), ideals, narrative ethics, feminist ethics, casuistic approaches
- Beneficence and related concepts, e.g., benefit (maslaha), charity and compassion, Confucian ren, utilitarian ethics
- Non-maleficence and related concepts, e.g., avoiding harm (mafsada), noninjury to life, Hindu, Buddhist and Janist ahimsa
- Strategies for teaching bioethics in multicultural and diverse classrooms
- Cross-cultural translation and adaptation of bioethical concepts and frameworks, e.g., epistemic justice, epistemicide
- Teaching Western bioethics in non-Western settings and vice versa, e.g., decolonizing bioethics, cultural humility
- Use of storytelling, narrative, case-based, and problem-based learning approaches in teaching bioethics across different religious and moral traditions
- International collaboration and partnerships in bioethics education
- Ethics of evaluating and assessing bioethics education across different cultures
- Interdisciplinary approaches to bioethics education in multicultural and diverse contexts
- Genetic/genomic tests, screenings, and genetic counseling
- Genome editing, therapy, and enhancement in humans and non-humans
- Genetic discrimination and geneticization in diverse communities and cultures
- Uses of genetics in criminal justice/forensics, reproductive choices, personalized medicine
- Biobanks, population genomics, privacy, and ethics of genomic databases
- Genetic ownership, patenting, and commercialization
- Predictive genetics/genomics and related religious concepts, e.g., belief in the unseen (ghayb) and predestined fate (qadar)
- Genetic determinism vs. theological determinism
- Healthcare ethics in conflict and post-conflict settings
- Impact of armed conflict on health and healthcare access, e.g., war refugees
- Military medical ethics, e.g., treatment of combatants and civilians
- Use of torture and medical experimentation during an armed conflict
- Role of healthcare professionals in armed conflict settings, e.g., conscientious objection and dual loyalty
- War reporting ethics and media coverage of healthcare in conflict zones
- Impact of weapons of mass destruction on healthcare
- Humanitarian intervention ethics and medical relief efforts
- Role of healthcare in post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction efforts
- Vulnerable groups and healthcare rights in armed conflict
- Disability across cultures and religious traditions
- Research involving people with disabilities: Participation, inclusion, co-production
- Impact of new biomedical technologies and practices on people with disability
- Disablism and intersectional oppression
- Disability and end-of-life care
- Disability, prenatal genetics and selective technologies, e.g., genetic discrimination
- Lessons from the ethical discourse on previous pandemics and plagues, e.g., Black Death, SARS, Ebola, HIV/AIDs, MERS-CoV, influenza
- Public vs. individual health ethics during pandemics, e.g., Zero COVID vs. mitigation policies, tracking and tracing, masking
- Religio-ethical discourse on pandemics and COVID-19
- Vaccination ethics, e.g., vaccine nationalism; vaccine hesitancy; science and pseudo-science; global solidarity; social media and public health
- Allocation of scarce resources during pandemics, e.g., triage and rationing
- Impact of social inequalities on pandemic responses and outcomes, e.g., structural justice, health disparities
- Ethics of quarantine, isolation, and contact tracing, e.g., individual liberty vs public health
- Vulnerable, minoritized, and marginal populations and communities, e.g., systemic racism, ageism, ableism, structural inequality
- Ethical considerations in the development and deployment of AI in healthcare, e.g., ChatGPT and other large language models, AI in mental health, brain-computer interface
- Privacy and confidentiality concerns in AI-powered healthcare systems, e.g., neurorights
- Bias and fairness issues in AI algorithms used in healthcare decision-making
- Impact of AI on healthcare workforce and labor practices
- AI-based decision-making in predictive modeling, diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment, and prognosis
- Impact of AI on health disparities and social inequalities, e.g., telehealth
- Ethics of physician-patient-AI/robot relationship
- Socially assistive robots, e.g., Replika and other digital humans, social robots to address social isolation and loneliness
- Interdisciplinary approaches to environmental bioethics
- Cultural and religious bioethical approaches to the environment, e.g. hima (protected area or natural reserve) in Islam, Care of creation in Christianity, Tikkun olam (repairing the world) in Judaism, and sub-Saharan African relational environmentalism
- Biodiversity ethics and species preservation, e.g., speciesism, anthropocentric ethics
- Climate change and global warming as bioethics problems, e.g., ethics of international ethics conferencing
- Climate change and global migration
- Climate justice and climate impacts on low-income nations
- Role of environmental ethics in public health and healthcare policy
- Impact of environmental hazards on human health, e.g., zoonoses
- Environmentally responsible healthcare and sustainable healthcare ethics
- Pollution, environmental degradation, deforestation, desertification and intensification of natural disasters and disease outbreaks.
- social dislocations that further diminish human and environmental health and resilience
- Animal welfare ethics and animal rights in environmental conservation efforts
- Emerging technologies, e.g., geo engineering and synthetic biology
We did our best to make the list above as comprehensive as possible. However, it is possible that a few important topics for some researchers may still be missing. So, please use this subject heading only if the topic of your submission does not fit in any of the abovementioned subject-heading and sub-topics. In that case, please suggest a name (max. 5 words) for the new subject heading in which your submission would fit.
Types of presentation
- Oral paper (30 min total)*
Three or more papers will be grouped together with other related talks in parallel sessions.
| Duration: | 30 minutes: 20 minutes for presentation plus 10 min. Q&A |
|---|---|
| Submission as: | Oral paper |
* Some contributors whose paper submissions did not successfully pass the review process within this category may be offered space in the shorter oral presentation session.
- Short oral presentation (15 minutes total)
Short presentations of max. 15 minutes that briefly introduce the presenter’s work to potentially interested audiences for later follow-up. Questions will be taken only if time remains in the 15-minute slot.
| Duration: | 15 minutes for presentation or 10 minutes for presentation, plus 5 min for Q&A |
|---|---|
| Submission as: | Contribution (short oral presentation) |
- Panel / Symposium Session (75 minutes total)
If you would like to present an entire thematic session, which comprises several, but related individual talks (max. 5), you may submit for a panel/symposium session. The session may be structured around linked papers and discussion or involve other activities and formats (e.g., debate, ethical dilemma, workshop, panel Q&A, film plus discussion). Submitting author should indicate the theme, overall abstract, names, and bios of other presenters and Panel Chair.
| Duration: | 75 minutes |
|---|---|
| Submission as: | Session (Panel/Symposium presentation) |
- Workshop (90-120 minutes)
Workshops comprise half-day meetings around a topic among a small group of participants (15–25 persons). This opportunity is open to both individual researchers and institutions, especially the Congress partner institutions. The theme of the proposed workshop can engage with one of the above-outlined subject headings and sub-topics or can focus on specific bioethical deliberations in religious or moral traditions. Examples include, but are not limited to:
* Islamic bioethics and mitochondria donation
* Buddhist ethical concepts of suffering and compassion in bioethical reasoning
* Ethics of socially disruptive technologies
* Clinical ethics dilemmas in a multicultural and multireligious setting
* Religious and secular perspectives on transplanting gene-edited organs from animals in human bodies
Please note that we only have limited slots for workshops. All workshop organizers and participants must register for the Congress.
| Duration: | 90 -120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Submission as: | Contribution (Workshop) |
- Poster
Authors can illustrate their study findings by displaying graphs, figures, diagrams, and text that describe their projects, main findings, including project background, research methods, results, and conclusions on posters. All posters will be available for viewing throughout the in-person conference in the poster hall. Poster presenters will be invited to stand by their posters and present their research to attendees during allotted breaks.
Poster Guidelines
- The suggested poster size is 121.92 cm (length) x 91.44 cm (width), 48 x 36 in.
- Kindly choose legible fonts and sizing, and avoid using fonts that are too fancy or difficult to read. Use a consistent font style throughout the poster. Consider using a bold or larger font for headings to make them stand out.
- Include your name, affiliation, and contact information (e.g., email) on the poster.
- Acknowledge any funding sources or collaborators who contributed to the research if applicable.
- Presenting authors must generate their physical posters based on the requirements listed in the sections above. The organizers will not provide posters on behalf of the presenters.
| Duration: | Open |
|---|---|
| Submission as: | Poster |
Deadlines*
| September 30, 2023 | Deadline for Submissions |
|---|---|
| October 31, 2023 | Deadline for Submissions (Extended) |
| December 15, 2023 | Confirmation of the acceptance/rejection decision |
| December 31, 2023 | Early Bird Registration & Payment |
| January 30, 2024 | General Registration & Payment** |
| March 4, 2024 | Registration & Payment for Online Participants |
** Depending on capacity, same-day registration is planned but is still pending. Interested attendees should keep a look on our website for more information pertaining to this.
Guidelines for submission
Submitting individual contributions
Oral papers and short oral presentations
- Abstracts must not exceed 300 words.
- Please provide an abstract with a clear structure showing the title, key question(s), how they will be addressed, main conclusions, and keywords.
- Select from the above list one subject heading and max. three sub-topics that fit the area of your submission.
- To ensure the best possible presentation of your abstract when it is published, please avoid any unnecessary formatting.
- Please check all information thoroughly before submitting, as all information will be published as submitted.
Submitting sessions
Panel/symposium session
When submitting a panel/symposium, please include the following information:
- Title
- Summary of the panel (max. 1000 words in total) including titles and abstracts of max. 5 individual talks (max. 250 words, for each talk)
- Name and bio of panel Chair (max. 60 words)
- Names and bios of all presenters (at least one presenter per individual talk)
Workshops
When submitting a Workshop, please include the following information:
- Title
- Summary of the workshop (max. 1000 words)
- Name and bio of workshop Convenor
- Names and bios of other presenters
- Estimated number of participants (max. 25)
- Workshop duariotn (between 90-180 minutes).
Evaluation and Peer-Review Process
- All WCB submissions undergo a double-blind review
- The review process will involve members from the host institutions, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB), in addition to renowned experts in the field of bioethics.
- For the sake of fairness and guaranteeing diversity, rejected submissions during the first round of the review process will be double-checked in a final round of evaluation, especially to maximize the potential of the participants’ diversity, then the decisions will be final.
Publication
Submitted contributions will be used for:
- Evaluation and peer review
- The committee’s selection meeting
- Publication of the accepted submission in the program of the Congres and its website.
Scopus Publication
This conference is affiliated with the Scopus-listed journal of Bioethics. Following the Congress, participating researchers will have the opportunity to submit their research for peer-reviewed publication as part of the upcoming thematic issue of the journal of Bioethics, which will be dedicated to the proceedings of the Congress.
Participation
It is required that at least one person per accepted submission (i.e., the presenting author) registers for the Congress. Co-authors and other researchers are welcome to register and participate in the Congress. We require the registration of the presenting author to ensure that paper/presentation slots given to accepted abstracts are used and to avoid no-shows since many abstracts would be rejected due to space reasons.
