Get your Bulletin of the World Health Organization paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 30 July, 2026
Submitting to Bulletin of the World Health Organization goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Bulletin of the World Health Organization guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Bulletin of the World Health Organization. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Bulletin of the World Health Organization journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Bulletin of the World Health Organization guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Bulletin of the World Health Organization guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through the journal's submission system.
| Element | Bull World Health Organ requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 250 words maximum. Structured abstracts required for: Research papers (Objective, Methods, Findings, Conclusion); Systematic reviews (Objective, Methods, Findings, Conclusion); Lessons from the field (Problem, Approach, Local setting, Relevant changes, Lessons learnt). Non-structured abstract for Policy & practice. No abstract for Perspectives and Editorials |
| Main text | Research: 3000 words; Systematic reviews: 3000 words; Policy & practice: 3000 words; Lessons from the field: 1500 words; Perspectives: 1500 words; Editorials: 800 words (word limits exclude abstract, tables, boxes, figures, references, and appendices) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| References | ICMJE recommendations format (Vancouver style). Numbered consecutively in parentheses or superscript. Reference limits: Research (50), Policy & practice (50), Systematic reviews (concordant with scope), Lessons from the field (15), Perspectives (12), Editorials (12) |
| Submission | submit.bwho.org |
| Peer review | Externally peer reviewed after in-house screening; commissioning does not guarantee review |
| Keywords | Author keywords not requested in the journal's author guidelines |
Read the Bulletin of the World Health Organization guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Bulletin of the World Health Organization in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Bull World Health Organ papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Bulletin of the World Health Organization journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Bulletin of the World Health Organization guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.