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Peer-review policy

Peer-review is the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity and significance to help editors determine whether the manuscript should be published in their journal. You can read more about the peer-review process here.

In cases where the journal is unable to find sufficient peer reviewers, the services of a publishing partner, Research Square, may be used to identify suitable reviewers and provide reports to avoid further delays for authors. Reviewers recruited by Research Square are paid a small honorarium for completing the review within a specified timeframe. Honoraria are paid regardless of the reviewer recommendation. With Research Square, a double-anonymous peer review system is in operation.

In cases where reports have been obtained by Research Square, the peer review reports will be unsigned unless the reviewer opts in to sign the report.

BMC Research Notes operates a transparent peer-review system. This means that we will publish all reviewer reports along with the accepted articles but the signing of reviewer reports will be optional. That is, reviewers will be able to choose to remain anonymous if they wish or they can choose to sign the report if they want their name to be publicly associated with it.

Manuscripts submitted to BMC Research Notes are assessed by our Editors and/or peer reviewers. All published articles, including Research Notes and Data Notes, are peer-reviewed. Editor(s) are encouraged to make a decision to publish based on one peer review report. Editor(s) are expected to only do so if the peer review report meets the standards set out in the Springer Nature Code of Conduct (section Peer-Review). Overall editorial responsibility for the journal is with the Editor, with Editorial Board Members acting as handling editors.

BMC Research Notes is part of the BMC series which publishes subject-specific journals focused on the needs of individual research communities across all scientific and clinical disciplines. We do not make editorial decisions on the basis of the interest of a study or its likely impact. Studies must be scientifically valid; for research articles this includes a scientifically sound research question, the use of suitable methods and analysis, and following community-agreed standards relevant to the research field.

Specific criteria for other article types can be found in the submission guidelines. 

BMC series - open, inclusive and trusted.

Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    1.8 - 2-year Impact Factor
    4.0 - 5-year Impact Factor
    0.869 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    0.534 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Speed
    20 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    191 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage 
    4,067,459 downloads
    2,370 Altmetric mentions

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