FAQs

1. What is BMJ Open Respiratory Research? BMJ Open Respiratory Research is an online-only, open access respiratory medicine journal, published by BMJ in partnership with the British Thoracic Society. The journal is dedicated to publishing high quality, peer-reviewed, medical research in all disciplines and therapeutic areas of respiratory medicine. Research is published across all study types, from study protocols to phase I trials to meta-analyses, including small or specialist studies. BMJ Open Respiratory Research aims to operate a fast submission and review process with continuous publication online, to ensure timely, up-to-date research is available worldwide. BMJ Open Respiratory Research aims to publish original articles considered by peer reviewers to be coherent and technically sound, with less emphasis on novelty; ensuring that the latest respiratory medical research is rapidly disseminated to a global audience. BMJ Open Respiratory Research will not judge papers on subjective criteria or potential impact.
2. What are the benefits of publishing in BMJ Open Respiratory Research?
  • Open access – all articles published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research are freely available to a global audience on a number of databases, with the copyright retained by the author
  • Rapid peer review – all articles are subject to stringent peer review and fast turnaround times, ensuring prompt publication through our continuous publication policy
  • Trusted international brandsBMJ Open Respiratory Research maintains the scientific and international reputation of BMJ and the British Thoracic Society (BTS)
  • High visibility – bmj.com hosting makes sure papers are noticed; exceptional articles are press released
3. How do I submit? Please submit your manuscript through our ScholarOne submission site.
4. My paper has just been rejected from Thorax will it be automatically transferred to BMJ Open Respiratory Research? Your article will not automatically be transferred to BMJ Open Respiratory Research if rejected from Thorax; you can, however, choose this option when submitting your article through the online submissions system.
5. How are articles peer-reviewed? Peer review is performed by a minimum of two reviewers before a decision is made, to ensure equality and speed.
6. What is the time to publication? BMJ Open Respiratory Research will provide authors with a rapid peer review service, aiming to provide the majority of first decisions within four weeks; continuous online publication ensures papers are published as soon as they are ready. All phases of the process can be tracked via through our online manuscript submission site.
7. How is the article cited? As an online journal, BMJ Open Respiratory Research publishes issues and volumes; articles are subsequently referenced by their unique article number as opposed to a page number.
8. Who do I contact if I would like more information about BMJ Open Respiratory Research? For all queries please contact us.
9. What is Open Access and the Article Processing Charge (APC)? Open Access means unrestricted online access to research. Open access publishing strives to facilitate the development of new medicines and healthcare, by disseminating ideas and discoveries efficiently, effectively and equitably. All articles published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research are open access, so are freely available via the internet in a permanent universally accessible repository. The APC allows for the costs of the open access publication process which would usually be covered through subscription fees, including:
  • Rigorous peer review through a maintained online submission system
  • Production costs – copy editing, and preparation for online format
  • Continuous hosting of the article online, available worldwide
  • Marketing efforts to increase the articles exposure
10. What APC does BMJ Open Respiratory Research charge? The APC is a one-off flat fee which incurs no additional costs and is charged on article acceptance. Submitted papers will be judged entirely on scientific validity rather than the ability to pay. No payment information is requested before an article is accepted, so the ability to pay cannot affect editorial decisions. The current APC for BMJ Open Respiratory Research is: 1,700 GBP / 2,380 EUR / 3,000 USD. Charges for publishing a study protocol are 1,000 GBP / 1,450 EUR / 1,650 USD. Payments from within the EU are subject to VAT. EU customers must supply their VAT Number to be exempt from VAT charge. UK Customers are not exempt from VAT charge (currently 20%).
11. How do I subscribe? BMJ Open Respiratory Research is an open access online only journal – free to access for anyone with an internet connection. Therefore there is no subscription or print edition.
12. How do I pay? The submitting author must confirm at the time of submission that they will organise payment should the article be accepted for publication. Prompt payment is advised as the article will be published upon receipt of the APC. Payment can be made by any of the following methods:
  • Immediate payment via credit card can be made through the online submission system using a secure payment form as soon as the manuscript has been accepted in principle.
  • Following receipt of an invoice, payment can be made by credit card, cheque or BACS transfer.
13. Does BMJ Open Respiratory Research impose any copyright restrictions and who retains copyright of the Open Access articles? Authors retain copyright. Articles are published under a Creative Commons licence to facilitate reuse of the content.
14. Does BMJ Open Respiratory Research offer discounts and waivers on APCs? We appreciate that some authors do not have access to funding to cover publication costs. No payment information is requested before an article is accepted, so the ability to pay cannot affect editorial decisions. BMJ Open Respiratory Research offers a 100% waiver on papers where all authors are located in low-income countries; see the full waiver list and more information. In recognition of reviewers’ support, any reviewer that returns a full review, on time, can receive a 25% discount on article publishing charges for a paper for which they are the corresponding author, if submitted within 12 months of completing the review.
15. Which funding agencies allow direct use of grants to cover APCs? If you received a grant to conduct your research, your first enquiry should be to whoever disburses the research funds. Much research funding is now granted on the condition that any resulting articles are published with open access and are deposited in PubMed Central – publishing in BMJ Open Respiratory Research means you meet both these criteria. To help authors complete these requirements many funders will permit payment of APCs from grants or have separate funds available. The Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK have new policies regarding open access to research they have funded which came in to effect on 1 April 2013. Publishing in BMJ Open Respiratory Research allows you to comply with their requirements. For the APC policies of UK PMC funders, including the Wellcome Trust, the MRC, the NIHR, Arthritis Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK. The Sherpa Juliet website provides a summary of policies given by various research funders as part of their grant awards. The Open Access Directory contains a list of universities that have funds for researchers to pay APCs. The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) has something similar – both mainly cover US institutions and are not comprehensive. Many universities now have funds available for authors to pay APCs. The Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity is a collection of universities who have pledged their support to establishing durable mechanisms for underwriting the APC-model. See if your university has signed here. Alternatively, contact your librarian to find out what support your institution offers.