Reviewers
More than 1500 people act as reviewers for the BJGP, 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, and at present the median time from submission to an initial decision is 11 days. We accept fewer than one in five articles.
Role of BJGP reviewers
The Editor needs to know if the material is original, if the question asked is important, if the methods, results, and interpretation are reliable, and if the paper will be of interest to BJGP readers. Most authors appreciate informed, constructive criticism of their work.
Reviewers are the unsung heroes of quality control 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: 2022
Transfers to BJGP Open
We now have the facility to automatically transfer articles to BJGP Open that we are unable to accept in BJGP. During the submission process authors are requested to confirm whether they are happy for their manuscript to be transferred to BJGP Open if it is rejected at any point during the submission or peer review process. If they agree, all versions of the article and its supporting files, including the peer reviews, will be transferred for consideration in BJGP Open if appropriate, and authors will be notified by email if the transfer has occurred. As a reviewer, you will be made aware of whether the article is being transferred to BJGP Open in the copy of the decision letter sent to the authors. If you feel strongly about your review not being transferred to BJGP Open, please contact the editorial office.
Registered Reports
Registered Reports are a form of article in which the methods and proposed analyses are pre-registered and reviewed prior to research being conducted. This format of article seeks to neutralise a variety of inappropriate research practices, including inadequate statistical power, selective reporting of results, and publication bias.
Publons
BJGP has partnered with Publons to enable reviewers to track, verify, and showcase their peer review work. When submitting a review for BJGP, 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 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).