Advancing peer review at BMC

Peer review is central to the publishing process and has a fundamental role to play in maintaining the integrity of the published literature and advancing discovery. Earlier this month, we shared the findings from BMC’s ‘Research in Progress’ report which outlines many of the activities that have been taking place this year at BMC, including those involving peer review. All the information on our peer review projects can now be found on our new web page. At BMC, we have always supported innovation in peer review and were one of the first publishers to truly open up peer review in 1999. BMC Psychology has continued that pioneering spirit by launching the first ever randomized controlled trial into whether ‘results-free’ peer review process can help reduce publication bias. This involves blinding the editors and reviewers to the results of a completed study, and, (similar to the Registered Reports article format), focuses the editorial decisions on the rationale and methods alone rather than the outcomes. Zorana Zupan, one of the researchers to have co-authored the first article to have undergone the ‘results free’ peer review process noted at the time: “It seemed like a more scientific approach to peer review with the paper judged on the question asked and the methods used to address the question.” In recognising the important role that patients and the public play in research, BMC announced the launch of Research Involvement and Engagement, an interdiscipli...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Open Access Publishing peer review Source Type: blogs