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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charSet="utf-8"/><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"/><title>About | BMJ Open</title><meta property="robots" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1"/><link rel="canonical" href="/pages/about" /><meta property="og:locale" content="en_GB"/><meta property="og:type" content="article"/><meta property="og:title" content="About | BMJ Open"/><meta property="og:description" content="Discover all the facts about the journal BMJ Open, including statistics, affiliations, ownership and contact information."/><meta name="description" content="Discover all the facts about the journal BMJ Open, including statistics, affiliations, ownership and contact information."/><meta property="og:url" content="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/pages/about"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="BMJ Open"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/03/94bm3OnO_400x400.jpeg"/><meta property="og:image:width" content="298"/><meta property="og:image:height" content="298"/><meta property="twitter:image" content="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/03/94bm3OnO_400x400.jpeg"/><meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-07-23T15:35:30+00:00"/><meta property="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/><meta name="next-head-count" content="18"/><link rel="shortcut icon" href="/next-resources/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /><link rel="preload" href="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js" as="script" /><link rel="preconnect dns-prefetch" href="https://analytics.bmj.com" /><link rel="preconnect dns-prefetch" href="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net" /><link rel="preconnect dns-prefetch" href="https://cdn-eu.pagesense.io" /><link rel="preconnect dns-prefetch" href="https://popup.wisepops.com" /><link rel="preconnect dns-prefetch" href="https://www.medtargetsystem.com" /><link rel="preload" href="https://cookie-cdn.cookiepro.com/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js" as="script" /><script async="" src="https://cookie-cdn.cookiepro.com/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js" type="text/javascript" charSet="UTF-8" data-domain-script="565e50dd-f6e9-46d6-91cd-5c40a270264f" id="cookie-pro-script"></script><script id="otb-ads-consent">function OnetrustAdsConsent() { if (window.googletag && window.googletag.apiReady) { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); googletag.pubads().setPrivacySettings({nonPersonalizedAds:!!OptanonActiveGroups.match(/,4,/)}); googletag.pubads().refresh(); } else { setTimeout(OnetrustAdsConsent, 1000); } } function OptanonWrapper() { OnetrustAdsConsent(); }</script><link data-next-font="" rel="preconnect" href="/" crossorigin="anonymous" /><link rel="preload" href="/_next/static/css/33e70bb346ab8a2a.css" as="style" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/_next/static/css/33e70bb346ab8a2a.css" data-n-g="" /><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><script defer="" nomodule="" src="/_next/static/chunks/polyfills-78c92fac7aa8fdd8.js"></script><script src="/_next/static/chunks/webpack-35b92941fc8726f9.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/chunks/framework-6782a8ff802d2848.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/chunks/main-bb76d03727604ce4.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/chunks/pages/_app-c87d05de1f1c1090.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/chunks/pages/pages/about-1ee672cb37606f26.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/CuiQtoN5Qy22t9FPd3VXj/_buildManifest.js" defer=""></script><script src="/_next/static/CuiQtoN5Qy22t9FPd3VXj/_ssgManifest.js" defer=""></script><script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function parseCookies() { let cookieHeader = document.cookie || ""; let cookies = Object.fromEntries( cookieHeader.split("; ").map((c) => c.split("=")) ); for (let key in cookies) { if (cookies[key] === "undefined") { cookies[key] = undefined; } } return cookies; } function uuidv4() { var d = new Date().getTime(); //Timestamp var d2 = (typeof performance !== "undefined" && performance.now && performance.now() * 1000) || 0; //Time in microseconds since page-load or 0 if unsupported return "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx".replace(/[xy]/g, function (c) { var r = Math.random() * 16; //random number between 0 and 16 if (d > 0) { //Use timestamp until depleted r = (d + r) % 16 | 0; d = Math.floor(d / 16); } else { //Use microseconds since page-load if supported r = (d2 + r) % 16 | 0; d2 = Math.floor(d2 / 16); } return (c === "x" ? 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flex-col justify-between pt-5 pr-0 md:pt-0 md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:mr-1 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:text-base [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:text-2xl pb-5" data-testid="150"><div>Acceptance rate:</div><div>36%</div></div><div class="text-bmj-silver-800 flex flex-col justify-between pt-5 pr-0 md:pt-0 md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:mr-1 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:text-base [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:text-2xl pb-5" data-testid="151"><div>Time to first decision with review:</div><div>105 days*</div></div><div class="text-bmj-silver-800 flex flex-col justify-between pt-5 pr-0 md:pt-0 md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:mr-1 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:text-base [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:text-2xl pb-5" data-testid="152"><div>Impact Factor (JCR):</div><div>2.4</div></div><div class="text-bmj-silver-800 flex flex-col justify-between pt-5 pr-0 md:pt-0 md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:mr-1 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:text-base [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:text-2xl pb-5" data-testid="153"><div>Impact Factor rank:</div><div>80/325</div></div><div class="text-bmj-silver-800 flex flex-col justify-between pt-5 pr-0 md:pt-0 md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:mr-1 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:text-base [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:text-2xl pb-5" data-testid="154"><div>Total content views:</div><div>6.83 million</div></div></div><div class="mb-4 flex flex-col md:flex-row" data-testid="key-metrics-footer"><div class="mr-0 mb-6 md:mr-20 md:mb-0"><a data-testid="155" href="/pages/about/#journal_statistics">More journal metrics</a></div><div class="mr-0 mb-6 md:mr-20 md:mb-0"><a data-testid="156" href="https://www.bmj.com/company/researchimpactmetrics/">How we get these metrics</a></div><div data-testid="median-number-of-days">*median number of days</div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-transparent" data-testid="sections-container-0"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Aims and scope</h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[50.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[50.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><i>BMJ Open</i> is a medical journal. We consider papers addressing research questions in clinical medicine, public health and epidemiology. We also welcome studies in health services research, health economics, surgery, qualitative research, research methods, medical education, medical publishing and any other field that directly addresses patient outcomes or the practice and delivery of healthcare. Our focus is on research that is relevant to patients and clinicians, including public health. We do not publish studies conducted in animals, laboratory studies not linked to patient outcomes, papers reporting solely physiological or biomechanical results from healthy participants, anatomy, cell biology or non-clinical psychology. All research study types are considered, from study protocols through phase I trials to meta-analyses. This includes specialist studies and studies reporting negative results. Case reports should be submitted to <a href="https://casereports.bmj.com/"><i>BMJ Case Reports</i></a>.</div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Our aim is to provide a home for all properly conducted medical research to be fully reported, after a rigorous and transparent peer review process. See our <a href="/pages/authors/#resources">Resources for authors</a> for more information on what we look for in a research study and how to maximise your chances of publication. Publishing procedures are built around fully open peer review and continuous publication, publishing research online as soon as the article is ready. <i>BMJ Open</i> aims to promote transparency in the publication process by publishing reviewer reports and previous versions of manuscripts as prepublication histories. Authors are asked to pay article-publishing charges on acceptance; the ability to pay does not influence editorial decisions.</div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-bmj-silver-100 mt-4" data-testid="sections-container-1"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Editorial board</h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[100.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">For information about Editor in Chief Adrian Aldcroft and his editorial team, please refer to the <a href="/pages/editorial-board/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Editorial Board</a> page.</div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-bmj-silver-100 mt-4" data-testid="sections-container-2"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Ownership</h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[100.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Wholly-owned by the BMJ Publishing Group</div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-bmj-silver-100 mt-4" data-testid="sections-container-3"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Journal information</h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Publication Model</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Open access</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-1"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Frequency</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Continuous</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-2"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Launch date</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">2011</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-3"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Digital Archives</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><a href="https://www.portico.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Portico</a>, <a href="https://www.lockss.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LOCKSS</a></div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-4"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Indexed by</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Web of Science Core Collection: Science Citation Index Expanded, MEDLINE (Index Medicus), PubMed Central, Scopus, Embase (Excerpta Medica), DOAJ, Google Scholar</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-5"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Peer Review Model</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">Open peer review; reviewer and author are known to each other. Reviews are published online.</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[25.00%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[75.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-6"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Online ISSN</strong></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">2044-6055</div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-bmj-silver-100 mt-4" data-testid="sections-container-4"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Journal Statistics 2024<a id="journal_statistics" name="journal_statistics"></a></h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[100.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Acceptance rate:</strong> 36%</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[33.33%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[33.33%] [&>div:nth-of-type(3)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(3)]:md:w-[33.33%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-1"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Speed</strong> Time to first decision without review: 4 days (median) Time to first decision with review: 105 days (median) Time from acceptance to publication: 21 days (median)</div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Impact</strong> Impact Factor category: Medicine, General & Internal Impact Factor (JCR): 2.4 Impact Factor rank: 80/325 5 Year Impact Factor: 2.7 Journal Citation Indicator (JCI): 0.68 Eigenfactor: 0.15111 Citescore: 4.4 Citescore rank: 117/636 Scimago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.971</div><div data-testid="sections-column-2" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><strong>Reach</strong> Total content views: 6.83 million Total Altmetric mentions: 45,049</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[33.33%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[66.67%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-2"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><a href="https://sfdora.org/"><img class="alignnone wp-image-11804" src="/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-dora.png" alt="SFDORA logo" width="191" height="66" /></a></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">The impact that academic research has cannot be defined by one single metric. In 2013, BMJ signed the <a href="https://sfdora.org/">San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)</a>. We did this to show our support for using multiple measures and metrics to portray journals’ impact; moving away from the Impact Factor as a single measure. <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/researchimpactmetrics/">How we get these metrics</a></div></div></div><div class="border-t-[1px] border-solid border-bmj-silver-100 mt-4" data-testid="sections-container-5"><h2 data-testid="sections-section-title" class="relative mb-0 [&>a]:absolute [&>a]:mt-[-20px]">Contact information</h2><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[100.00%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-0"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">For all contact information please refer to the <a href="/pages/contact-us">contact us</a> 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logo" width="100" height="62" /></a></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><a href="https://datadryad.org/" aria-label="Data Dryad">Dryad</a> is an international repository of data underlying peer-reviewed articles in the basic and applied biosciences. 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BMJ has been working with Dryad since 2010.</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[33.33%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[66.67%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-1"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><a href="https://publicationethics.org/" aria-label="COPE"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2325 size-full" src="/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/03/logo-cope-BMJ-Open.png" alt="COPE logo" width="100" height="86" /></a></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">The BMJ Publishing Group is a founding member of <a href="https://publicationethics.org/">COPE</a> (the Committee on Publication Ethics), which provides a forum for publishers and Editors of scientific journals to discuss issues relating to the integrity of the work submitted to or published in their journals.</div></div><div class=" text-bmj-silver-800 whitespace-pre-wrap font-normal leading-[1.625rem] mt-0 flex flex-col md:mt-4 md:flex-row [&>div:last-of-type]:pr-0 [&>div]:mt-6 [&>div]:pr-0 [&>div]:md:mt-0 [&>div]:md:pr-4 [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(1)]:md:w-[33.33%] [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:w-full [&>div:nth-of-type(2)]:md:w-[66.67%] " data-testid="sections-subsection-content-container-2"><div data-testid="sections-column-0" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0"><a href="https://www.equator-network.org/"><img class="alignnone" src="/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-equator.gif" alt="Equator logo" width="100" height="26" /></a></div><div data-testid="sections-column-1" class="inline md:inline [&_h2]:mt-0">The <a href="https://www.equator-network.org/">EQUATOR Network</a> is an international initiative that seeks to improve the value of medical research literature by promoting accurate, transparent reporting of research studies. 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We consider papers addressing research questions in clinical medicine, public health and epidemiology. We also welcome studies in health services research, health economics, surgery, qualitative research, research methods, medical education, medical publishing and any other field that directly addresses patient outcomes or the practice and delivery of healthcare.\r\n\r\nOur focus is on research that is relevant to patients and clinicians, including public health. We do not publish studies conducted in animals, laboratory studies not linked to patient outcomes, papers reporting solely physiological or biomechanical results from healthy participants, anatomy, cell biology or non-clinical psychology.\r\n\r\nAll research study types are considered, from study protocols through phase I trials to meta-analyses. This includes specialist studies and studies reporting negative results. Case reports should be submitted to \u003ca href=\"https://casereports.bmj.com/\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eBMJ Case Reports\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.","Our aim is to provide a home for all properly conducted medical research to be fully reported, after a rigorous and transparent peer review process. See our \u003ca href=\"https://bmjopen.bmj.com/pages/authors/#resources\"\u003eResources for authors\u003c/a\u003e for more information on what we look for in a research study and how to maximise your chances of publication.\r\n\r\nPublishing procedures are built around fully open peer review and continuous publication, publishing research online as soon as the article is ready. \u003ci\u003eBMJ Open\u003c/i\u003e aims to promote transparency in the publication process by publishing reviewer reports and previous versions of manuscripts as prepublication histories.\r\n\r\nAuthors are asked to pay article-publishing charges on acceptance; the ability to pay does not influence editorial decisions."],"layoutType":"B"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Editorial board","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["For information about Editor in Chief Adrian Aldcroft and his editorial team, please refer to the \u003ca href=\"/pages/editorial-board/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eEditorial Board\u003c/a\u003e page."],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Ownership","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["Wholly-owned by the BMJ Publishing Group"],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Journal information","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Model\u003c/strong\u003e","Open access"],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eFrequency\u003c/strong\u003e","Continuous"],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eLaunch date\u003c/strong\u003e","2011"],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eDigital Archives\u003c/strong\u003e","\u003ca href=\"https://www.portico.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ePortico\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://www.lockss.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eLOCKSS\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eIndexed by\u003c/strong\u003e","Web of Science Core Collection: Science Citation Index Expanded, MEDLINE (Index Medicus), PubMed Central, Scopus, Embase (Excerpta Medica), DOAJ, Google Scholar"],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003ePeer Review Model\u003c/strong\u003e","Open peer review; reviewer and author are known to each other. Reviews are published online."],"layoutType":"F"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eOnline ISSN\u003c/strong\u003e","2044-6055"],"layoutType":"F"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Journal Statistics 2024\u003ca id=\"journal_statistics\" name=\"journal_statistics\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eAcceptance rate:\u003c/strong\u003e 36%"],"layoutType":"A"},{"columnsContent":["\u003cstrong\u003eSpeed\u003c/strong\u003e\r\nTime to first decision without review: 4 days (median)\r\nTime to first decision with review: 105 days (median)\r\nTime from acceptance to publication: 21 days (median)","\u003cstrong\u003eImpact\u003c/strong\u003e\r\nImpact Factor category: Medicine, General \u0026amp; Internal\r\nImpact Factor (JCR): 2.4\r\nImpact Factor rank: 80/325\r\n5 Year Impact Factor: 2.7\r\nJournal Citation Indicator (JCI): 0.68\r\nEigenfactor: 0.15111\r\nCitescore: 4.4\r\nCitescore rank: 117/636\r\nScimago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.971","\u003cstrong\u003eReach\u003c/strong\u003e\r\nTotal content views: 6.83 million\r\nTotal Altmetric mentions: 45,049"],"layoutType":"C"},{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://sfdora.org/\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone wp-image-11804\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-dora.png\" alt=\"SFDORA logo\" width=\"191\" height=\"66\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","The impact that academic research has cannot be defined by one single metric. In 2013, BMJ signed the \u003ca href=\"https://sfdora.org/\"\u003eSan Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)\u003c/a\u003e. We did this to show our support for using multiple measures and metrics to portray journals’ impact; moving away from the Impact Factor as a single measure.\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/company/researchimpactmetrics/\"\u003eHow we get these metrics\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"D"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Contact information","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["For all contact information please refer to the \u003ca href=\"/pages/contact-us\"\u003econtact us\u003c/a\u003e page."],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"For authors","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["Please refer to the \u003ca href=\"/pages/authors\"\u003einstructions for authors\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"For reviewers","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["Please refer to the \u003ca href=\"/pages/reviewer-guidelines\"\u003einstructions for reviewers\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"To advertise","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/company/for-advertisers-and-sponsor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eGeneral advertising information for BMJ\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Rights and permissions","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/\"\u003eRights and licensing information for BMJ\u003c/a\u003e"],"layoutType":"A"}]},{"sectionTitle":"Affiliations","subsections":[{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://datadryad.org/stash\" aria-label=\"Data Dryad\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone wp-image-2324\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-dryad.png\" alt=\"DRYAD logo\" width=\"100\" height=\"62\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","\u003ca href=\"https://datadryad.org/\" aria-label=\"Data Dryad\"\u003eDryad\u003c/a\u003e is an international repository of data underlying peer-reviewed articles in the basic and applied biosciences. Dryad enables scientists to validate published findings, explore new analysis methodologies, repurpose data for research questions unanticipated by the original authors, and perform synthetic studies. BMJ has been working with Dryad since 2010."],"layoutType":"D"},{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://publicationethics.org/\" aria-label=\"COPE\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone wp-image-2325 size-full\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/03/logo-cope-BMJ-Open.png\" alt=\"COPE logo\" width=\"100\" height=\"86\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","The BMJ Publishing Group is a founding member of \u003ca href=\"https://publicationethics.org/\"\u003eCOPE\u003c/a\u003e (the Committee on Publication Ethics), which provides a forum for publishers and Editors of scientific journals to discuss issues relating to the integrity of the work submitted to or published in their journals."],"layoutType":"D"},{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://www.equator-network.org/\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-equator.gif\" alt=\"Equator logo\" width=\"100\" height=\"26\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","The \u003ca href=\"https://www.equator-network.org/\"\u003eEQUATOR Network\u003c/a\u003e is an international initiative that seeks to improve the value of medical research literature by promoting accurate, transparent reporting of research studies. The BMJ Publishing Group is a sponsor of its activities."],"layoutType":"D"},{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaspa.org/index.php\" aria-label=\"OASPA\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone wp-image-2327\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/caspa_logo.png\" alt=\"CASPA logo\" width=\"100\" height=\"62\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","The mission of \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaspa.org/index.php\" aria-label=\"OASPA\"\u003eOASPA\u003c/a\u003e is to support and represent the interests of open access journal publishers globally in all scientific, technical, and scholarly disciplines. The BMJ Publishing Group has been a member since 2009."],"layoutType":"D"},{"columnsContent":["\u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/\" aria-label=\"Creative Commons\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone wp-image-2328\" src=\"/bmjopen/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/logo-creative-commons.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons logo\" width=\"100\" height=\"28\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e","All BMJ Open articles are licensed using either \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/\"\u003eCreative Commons\u003c/a\u003e Attribution (CC BY) or Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC) licence. These licenses let others distribute, remix, tweak and build upon your work. 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