Background:

The instructions to authors are the only means of communication between researchers and the editorial standards of a scientific journal. One of the mandatory items to be contained therein is about the ethical part, to prevent new research to carry out abuses with the enrolled on the research are published and stimulated.

Aim:

To verify the ethical questions on the guidelines of Brazilian surgical journals

Method:

Thirteen selected journals were divided into two groups: general surgery (n=3), and surgical specialty (n=10). The instructions to authors were analyzed by the quote of ethical requirements based on a specific research protocol, ranging from zero to six points.

Results:

The average score of the general surgery group was similar than that of the surgical specialty group (3.66±0.57 vs 3.30±1.15, p=0.6154). When each ethical requirement was compared between the groups, there was no significant difference between the ethical requirements (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

There was respect for most ethical questions evaluated, with no difference between the journals of general or specialty surgery.

Introduction:

The use of robots in surgery has been increasingly common today, allowing the emergence of numerous bioethical issues in this area.

Objective:

To present review of the ethical aspects of robot use in surgery.

Method:

Search in Pubmed, SciELO and Lilacs crossing the headings "bioethics", "surgery", "ethics", "laparoscopy" and "robotic".

Results:

Of the citations obtained, were selected 17 articles, which were used for the preparation of the article. It contains brief presentation on robotics, its inclusion in health and bioethical aspects, and the use of robots in surgery.

Conclusion:

Robotic surgery is a reality today in many hospitals, which makes essential bioethical reflection on the relationship between health professionals, automata and patients.