Some of the pioneering scientists who have chosen to publish in one of BioMed Central's open access journals. More comments from authors about their experience of publishing with BioMed Central can be found on our author comments page. Search all our authors in the author index.
Published with: Head & Face Medicine, World Journal of Surgical Oncology
What prompted you to submit a paper? The idea of accepting a manuscript and publishing the article the same day was exciting to me.
What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process? The electronic submission is simple and straightforward, and I consider the review process very fast and objective.
Published with: Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
What prompted you to submit a paper? People in academic jobs have to follow the rule of publish or perish. But, this is not always the motive for academics writing papers. Troubleshooting can be the main aim of a lot of academic activities. As an academic, I am trying to address both needs i.e. I have submitted or prepared papers for the sake of publication per se to increase my survival chance in the academic environment and I have submitted or prepared papers to address a problem. The latter includes original work, or review or commentary. For example, I have noticed that a few research groups are forming in Iran to work on spinal cord tissue engineering. Obviously, these groups needed a sound information infrastructure of what has been done so far in this field. This necessitated availability of a concise and yet comprehensive source which was written in a language familiar to the members of these groups. I felt that such a source was not available to them and so prepared and submitted a review on spinal cord tissue engineering.
What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process? The submission was straightforward and the peer review process was thorough.
What is your field of study? I realized that something was wrong in the traditional science communication system when a co-author said that she couldn't get our own published paper. She works in a nationally known cancer research/treatment non-profit institution and couldn't have access to that journal. This fact made me think: if one of the top-ranked institutions cannot read this paper, how about the several other institutions around the country? Since then I decided that, if it is
my call, the work should be sent to Open Access journals only.
What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process? I felt, as an author and as a reviewer, that the peer review process was extremely fair. For example, the reviewers are asked to categorize their concerns as "essential" or "discretionary - the author can choose to ignore". I also felt that there is a genuine will to publish the work if it meets a quality criteria, as opposed to some "we don't have space, sorry" policy widely applied by journals. Finally, many researchers in Brazil (and I'm sure that this is true in other developing countries too, especially non-English speakers) feel that reviews from traditional journals tend to apply "double standards" making even more difficult to publish. I can say that this situation was not true for any of the manuscripts I submitted to BMC, including those rejected.
What prompted you to submit a paper? Dissemination of scientific discoveries is the backbone of research. Hence, when I collect quality data I submit it for its dissemination.
What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process? It is a natural scientific evolution that has taken place since conventional snail-mail postal services have been hindering rapid expansion of scientific discoveries and their availability. So, the electronic submission and reviewing are now an integral part of scientific processing.
Pierre Durand
University of the Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service
Published with: BMC Genetics
What prompted you to submit a paper? As for most scientists, contributing to and sharing of knowledge prompts one to submit papers for publication. On a practical level it is a job requirement.
What was your assessment of the electronic submission and peer review process? I thought the submission and review process at BMC was professional, uncomplicated and rapid, which I appreciated.
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Ursula D'Souza Institute of Psychiatry Published with: BMC Genetics
Philip C, Hill Medical Research Council Laboratories Published with: BMC Infectious Diseases, BMC Public Health
Jonathan Steven Alexander LSU Health Sciences Center Published with: Journal of Inflammation, BMC Physiology, BMC Neuroscience
Dario Alessi University
of Dundee Published with: Journal of Biology
Mo Amin Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) Published with: Health Research Policy and Systems, BMC Public Health
Alvin Berger Paradigm Genetics Published with: Lipids in Health and Disease, BMC Bioinformatics
Connie Cepko Harvard
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Isabelle Colombet Hôpital
Européen Georges Pompidou Published with: BMC Health Services Research, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Michael Costigan Harvard
Medical School Published with: BMC Neuroscience
A. Metin Gülmezoglu HRP
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Grahame Hardie University of Dundee Published with: Journal of Biology
M R (Pete) Hayden University of Missouri School of Medicine Published with: Cardiovascular Diabetology, Nutrition & Metabolism, Nutrition Journal
Brian Haynes McMaster
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Kurt A Jellinger University
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Bart GJ Knols International
Atomic Energy Agency Published with: Malaria Journal, Journal of Circadian Rhythms
Károly Kulich AstraZeneca
R&D Mölndal Published with: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Shaheen Emmanuel Lakhan Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation Published with: BMC Medical Education, Diagnostic Pathology
Tai Pong Lam University of Hong Kong Published with: BMC Public Health
Christos Lionis University
of Crete Published with: BMC Medical Education, BMC Ophthalmology, BMC Family Practice, BMC Gastroenterology
Liqun Lu University of Singapore Published with: Virology Journal
Satya Narayan University
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Thomas Papadimos Medical College of Ohio Published with: BMC Surgery, BMC Medical Ethics, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, BMC Medical Ethics
Shahzad Gull Raja Alder Hey Children's Hospital Published with: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
James Rohrer Mayo Clinic Published with: BMC Family Practice, BMC Public Health, BMC Women's Health
Rajesh Sinhan Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences Published with: BMC Ophthalmology, BMC Medicine
David Solomon Michigan State University Published with: BMC Medical Education, BMC Medical Research Methodology
Ross Upshur Sunnybrook
and Women's College Health Sciences Centre Published with: Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine, Population Health Metrics, BMC International Health and Human Rights, BMC Family Practice, BMC Medical Ethics, BMC Health Services Research, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Haluk Vahaboglu Kocaeli
Universitesi Tip fakultesi Published with: Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials
Elba S Vazquez University
of Buenos Aires Published with: BMC Cancer
Wyeth W. Wasserman University
of British Columbia Published with: BMC Bioinformatics, Genome Biology, BMC Genomics, Journal of Biology
Grzegorz Wegrzyn University
of Gdansk Published with: BMC Pediatrics, Microbial Cell Factories, BMC Biotechnology
Wei Zhang University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center Published with: Molecular Cancer, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Genomics, Genome Biology
Andrew Vickers Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Published with: BMC Medical Research Methodology, BMC Palliative Care, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Joses M Kirigia World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa Published with: BMC Emergency Medicine, Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry
Eugene V. Koonin National Center for Biotechnology Information Published with: BMC Evolutionary Biology, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Structural Biology, BMC Genomics, Genome Biology
BioMed Central Author Profiles
publish or perish
. But, this is not always the motive for academics writing papers. 
to increase my survival chance in the academic environment 
