2014 proved to be a successful and fruitful year for BMJ Open. We received over 2500 submissions, compared to just over 2000 in 2013. We published over 1100 papers. BMJ Open has always welcomed research article and protocol submissions, and in 2014, we expanded our scope to include cohort profiles. In mid year, Thomson Reuters […]
Category: About the journal
Open Access Week: the next generation
Open Access Week, a global event now entering its eighth year and running from the 20th – 26th October, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to […]
BMJ Open now publishes cohort profiles
BMJ Open currently publishes articles reporting research results or study protocols. We have now expanded our scope to include cohort profiles, articles that describe major, ongoing research cohorts. What’s the difference between a protocol, a cohort profile and a research paper? Detailed information about cohort profiles is in our instructions for authors. In brief, cohort […]
Bringing old trials to light in BMJ Open
Today we have published the first trial prompted by the Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials (RIAT) initiative. Dr Tom Treasure from UCL, with colleagues from University of Sussex and Imperial College, have brought back from obscurity the results of the ‘CEA Second-Look’ trial. The study asked the question: in patients who have undergone a […]
Comparing the results from two surveys of BMJ Open authors
BMJ Open authors were among those surveyed by Professor David J Solomon of Michigan State University for a study recently published in the journal PeerJ. Needless to say we read this with great interest (we were unaware of the survey until the results were published). The survey reported a generally positive response to BMJ Open […]
BMJ Open’s 2013 year in review
2013 was another successful year for BMJ Open. Credit and thanks as always goes to our editorial board and especially our peer reviewers for helping make this happen. BMJ Open’s status as a global journal was confirmed as we received over 2000 submissions from 89 countries and published papers from 60. We published 962 […]
Thank you to our reviewers – 2013
Peer review is a fundamental part of publishing. Perhaps nowhere more so than in the open access field, which is often more scrutinised than other traditional publishing routes. Recognising this, the BMJ Open team would like to thank all 2725 peer reviewers who refereed for the journal in 2013 – your advice and considered remarks […]
Journal policy on research funded by the tobacco industry
This article is being copublished as an editorial in the BMJ, Heart, and Thorax and as a blog in BMJ Open. Full references, competing interests, provenance and citation details can be read here. Fiona Godlee editor in chief [1], Ruth Malone editor, Tobacco Control [2], Adam Timmis current/outgoing editor, Heart [2], Catherine Otto incoming editor, Heart [2], Andy Bush coeditor, Thorax [2], Ian Pavord coeditor, Thorax [2], Trish Groves […]
First impact factor announced: 1.583
BMJ Open’s first impact factor has been announced: 1.583. We are delighted to have this further evidence that BMJ Open is considered a journal of credible, valued research. Does a journal’s impact factor matter? In short – yes. When we surveyed our authors earlier this year, we asked what improvements we could make to […]
Using the SPIRIT statement to improve trial protocols
We have updated our instructions for authors to show that we now encourage the use of the SPIRIT statement. SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) is ‘an international initiative that aims to improve the quality of clinical trial protocols by defining an evidence-based set of items to address in a protocol’. Its creation […]