 BioMed Central's author survey results
At BioMed Central, we believe in offering our authors the best possible publishing experience. We are constantly enhancing our service, by responding to what authors tell us about:
How do authors rate their experience of publishing with us?*
Every author who publishes an article in a BioMed Central journal is asked to rate aspects of their experience on a scale of 'very good' to 'very poor'.
Overall:
- 93% of authors rated the quality of the overall process [of publication in a journal published by BioMed Central] as very good or good
- 90% of authors say they would publish in the journal again
- 92% of authors would recommend the journal they published in to a colleague
- 94% of authors rated the final appearance of their article as good or very good
Submitting a manuscript:
- 91% of authors found the speed of the online manuscript submission system good or very good
- 90% of authors found the ease of use of the online manuscript submission system good or very good
- 95% of authors rated the helpfulness/clarity of instructions for authors as very good or good
- 91% of authors rated the helpfulness of editorial staff as good or very good
Why do our authors choose to submit to BioMed Central journals?**
Every author who submits a manuscript to a BioMed Central journal is asked for the three most important reasons why they chose our journal over the hundreds of others that are available.
The three reasons for submitting manuscripts to BioMed Central journals given most often were:
Journal scope:
The scope of the journal was highlighted by 36% of our survey respondents.
Come to BioMed Central to:
- Choose from more than 186 journals ranging across all of biology and medicine
- Publish a variety of article types: All of our journals publish research articles. Individual journals publish a wide variety of article types including methodology/technical advance and debate. Full details are given in the Instructions for authors for each journal.
Open access policy:
32% of respondents to our survey said that the open access policy of our journals - and the visibility and accessibility that come with it - was one of the three main reasons for choosing them.
Choose open access at BioMed Central and benefit from:
- High visibility for your research: Downloads average 2000+ in the first 12 months of publication. Over 40,000 downloads for the most popular research
- Accessibility and Archiving: Research is freely available to anyone with an internet connection. No subscription or registration required. Full text is archived in PubMed Central and abstracts are included in PubMed within days of publication.
- Copyright retention: You keep the copyright of your article. You are free to print out copies of your article, email it to your colleagues, and/or post it on the web. Your colleagues can use and disseminate your work, without restriction, for educational and scientific purposes.
- For more information about our open access policies, see our open access charter.
Speed of publication:
31% of our survey respondents told us that speed of peer review and publication is one of the key reasons they chose a BioMed Central journal.
Because we understand that fast publication is key to researchers, particularly those working in competitive or fast-moving fields, BioMed Central offers:
- Electronic submission and peer-review makes publishing your research simple and efficient
- Thorough and timely peer review: we aim for an initial editorial decision in 6-8 weeks, and can fast-track 'hot' research
- Immediate or very fast publication on acceptance: The majority of our titles - the BMC series, our Independent Journals, Arthritis Research & Therapy, Breast Cancer Research, Critical Care and Genome Biology publish immediately on acceptance. Journal of Biology publishes within four weeks of acceptance.
Why don't you join the thousands of authors who have already submitted to our journals? To find out more read our instructions for authors or submit online. To read comments from our authors please see our author profiles and author comments.
* Based on 991 respondents from August 2005 to January 2006. 41% response rate of authors surveyed.
** Based on 1693 respondents from May 2005 to January 2006. 20% response rate of authors surveyed.
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