It is a year today that BMJ Open published its first papers: prompting donuts all round!

We have now published over 230 open access research articles, covering niche topics and major public health issues alike.

Several articles have received plenty of press coverage. Some have prompted considerable national debate, such as this paper suggesting that there would be major benefits to the rest of the UK if their diets improved to the level of England’s. Others, such as this paper on locked-in syndrome, have received widespread international coverage. Many articles now have thousands of downloads.

Wider exposure can bring closer scrutiny and some articles have received plenty of robust critique after publication. Everything we publish has received peer review, quite often including statistical review. We publish reviews of accepted articles so the justification for acceptance is clear. But research thrives on debate and we would be delighted to receive more comments – positive or (constructively) critical.

After just a year of publication we feel the journal is already making its mark. We have published papers from first-time authors and experienced researchers, offering a straightforward route to publication via fair, transparent peer review.

Many authors have also benefited from our willingness to waive article payment charges for those without the means to pay.

In our next year we look forward to publishing an even wider range of papers, hopefully with more authors taking advantage of our partnership with the Dryad repository to share their research data.

Here’s to the next 12 months …

BMJ Open is the first BMJ Group journal to use fully open peer review

Revealing to authors who has peer reviewed their article has helped to make the process fairer and increase the credit for reviewers, according to a recent editorial published by the BMJ.

BMJ Deputy Editor, Trish Groves presents her perspectives on the advantages of transparency in peer review using the BMJ – with more than 10 years’ experience in open peer review – as an example of success.  The article explores alternate models of journal peer review and references the findings of a recently published randomised controlled trial which suggested that ‘telling peer reviewers that their signed reviews might be available in the public domain on the BMJ’s website, had no important effect on review quality’.

Read the full article by Dr Trish Groves here:

In a counter-debate published in the BMJ, Karim Khan, Editor in Chief of the BJSM argues that open peer review may dissuade reviewers from offering a true judgement of a paper, and in some cases, enable a jealous rival to sabotage the review process. He takes a closer look at closed peer review, where reviewers can opt for anonymity.

Karim Khan’s article is available in full here:

Keep your analytical skills sharp, receive public acknowledgement of your efforts and save money on publication charges!

BMJ Open is now reviewing articles for publication. Peer reviewing is a good way to hone your analytical skills and to get a ‘first look’ at forthcoming research. Our system of open peer review – publishing reviewers’ comments – provides public acknowledgement of your input. It is also helpful if you need to demonstrate your reviewing activity for continuing professional development purposes.

You can register as a reviewer at our submission site; once you have registered, drop us an email and let us know.

In recognition of your support, as a BMJ Open reviewer you will receive a 25% discount on article processing charges if you are the corresponding author of a paper submitted to the journal within a year of returning your review.

Our instructions for reviewers are here.