Peer review for BJGP Open
More than 1500 people act as reviewers for the BJGP Open, including around 90 statistics experts. We operate an open peer review system, so authors and reviewers are known to each other. Submissions that pass initial screening are sent to up to three expert reviewers. We aim to give authors an initial decision as quickly as possible.
Role of BJGP Open reviewers
The Editor needs to know if the question asked is important, if the methods, results, and interpretation are reliable, and if the paper will be of interest to BJGP Open readers. Most authors appreciate informed, constructive criticism of their work.
BJGP Open offers authors in all parts of the world the opportunity to submit their research for peer review and publication. The journal welcomes submissions of articles of sound methodological quality which address questions in primary care which are of importance in the authors' own healthcare setups, or more generally. Articles reporting substantial findings which are confirmatory, rather than absolutely original, will be considered, as long as they meet BJGP Open's standards for data collection, analysis and presentation. Articles reporting negative findings are also welcome as are research protocols and review articles on relevant clinical and health services topics.
Reviewers are the unsung heroes of publishing who provide a valuable service to authors. Authors may modify their results in the light of their comments, and it is not unusual for resubmissions to express gratitude for reviewers’ feedback. We now have a system to provide feedback to reviewers on the quality of their reviews. Reviewers are able to see the mean score of their reviews, and the Editor is happy to provide narrative feedback to reviewers on their reviews, up to twice a year, on request. The grading criteria are as follows:
Timeliness
3 – Review was on time
2 – Review was slightly delayed
1 – Review was severely delayed
Quality Assessment
3 – Review was highly relevant
2 – Review was sufficient
1 – Review was below average
Acknowledging our reviewers: 2021
Publons
BJGP Open has partnered with Publons to enable reviewers to track, verify, and showcase their peer review work. When submitting a review for BJGP Open, reviewers will be asked to opt in to Publons and create their Publons profile. Through Publons reviewers can effortlessly maintain a single, verified record of all their reviewing and editorial activity for any of the world’s journals.
Registering as a reviewer
Step one: Create an account on the BJGP Open online submission system (or go to step two if you are already registered)
Step two: Click on your name in the upper right corner of the journal pages then select ‘User ID & Password’
Step three: Check the box ‘Do you wish to be invited for peer review?’
Step four: Click on finish
Further information
Critical Reading for Primary Care
'Critical Appraisal for Primary Care' provides guidance on evaluating the quality of research articles, and the updated version is freely available to download.
The RCGP Critical Appraisal eLearning course is also available (free for RCGP Members).