James Rohrer

Professor of Health Services Research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Mayo Clinic

James Rohrer is Professor of Health Services Research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He is currently carrying out epidemiological studies of self-rated health, self-rated mental health, and risk factors among primary care patients.

What prompted you to submit a manuscript to one of BioMed Central's open access journals?

The usual journals usually were very slow in processing new manuscripts and extremely slow in publication after acceptance. Since I never use paper versions of journals any more, I decided that publishing in an online format was preferable.

What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process?

Peer review was rapid and of excellent quality. I have noticed that different BMC journals have somewhat different processes and move at different rates. Standardization across journals is not yet complete. However, it is close enough to permit authors to readily move from one journal to the next.

What do you think you gained from publishing in an open access journal?

Speed and sensible reviewers who were rigorous without getting stuck on their own agendas.