BMJ Open now publishes cohort profiles

  BMJ Open currently publishes articles reporting research results or study protocols. We have now expanded our scope to include cohort profiles, articles that describe major, ongoing research cohorts. What’s the difference between a protocol, a cohort profile and a research paper? Detailed information about cohort profiles is in our instructions for authors. In brief, cohort […]

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Bringing old trials to light in BMJ Open

  Today we have published the first trial prompted by the Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials (RIAT) initiative. Dr Tom Treasure from UCL, with colleagues from University of Sussex and Imperial College, have brought back from obscurity the results of the ‘CEA Second-Look’ trial. The study asked the question: in patients who have undergone a […]

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Thank you to our reviewers – 2013

Peer review is a fundamental part of publishing. Perhaps nowhere more so than in the open access field, which is often more scrutinised than other traditional publishing routes. Recognising this, the BMJ Open team would like to thank all 2725 peer reviewers who refereed for the journal in 2013 – your advice and considered remarks […]

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Using the SPIRIT statement to improve trial protocols

We have updated our instructions for authors to show that we now encourage the use of the SPIRIT statement. SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) is ‘an international initiative that aims to improve the quality of clinical trial protocols by defining an evidence-based set of items to address in a protocol’. Its creation […]

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