For Referees

The editorial team would like to thank all the people who help maintain the quality of scientific papers in the BDJ by acting as reviewers. The following guidelines for referees are to help improve the speed of processing manuscripts, thereby reducing the time between the BDJ receiving the manuscript and reaching a publishing decision. Although the notes are intended to be of more use to new referees, existing referees may also find them helpful. For convenience, the notes have been divided into three stages.

The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal:

  • Identity transparency: Single anonymised
  • Reviewer interacts with: Editor
  • Review information published: None

The BDJ publishes themed/guest-edited issues. The peer review process for these articles is the same as the peer review process of the journal in general. Additionally, if the guest editor(s) authors an article in their themed issue, they will not handle the peer review process.

Stage 1: What you should receive from the BDJ?

You should receive the following:

  • an e-mail inviting you to review the manuscript (with the abstract) and a link to enable you to accept/decline the review
  • once you accept the review request, you are then able to access the manuscript, reviewer instructions and reviewer form via our online system.

Authors are concerned that papers are processed as quickly as possible, which means that we must ask our referees to be prompt in returning their report. If you are unable to meet the deadline, or feel unable to referee the manuscript, please decline the editor's invitation. If you would like to suggest an alternative referee please email bdjmanuscripts@nature.com quoting the MS number of the manusript or include the suggestions when you decline the invitation.

Please remember that this manuscript is privileged information and remains the confidential property of the authors until it is published.

Stage 2: Refereeing the paper

Please check the manuscript for the following:

  • Does the title represent the aims and conclusions?
  • Is the title accurate?
  • Are the contents of the manuscript relevant?
  • Is the manuscript accurate, and are the sections the right length?
  • Is the manuscript concise?
  • Are the aims clear, and does the research address the aims?
  • Are the tables and references relevant, or are there too many?
  • Is the work original and scientific (for scientific papers)?

You do not need to check grammar, spelling and style, although comments are always welcome. If you cannot understand any part of the manuscript, then please comment on this.

Stage 3: Submitting your report

When you enter your report it helps the authors if you can itemise points such as (1), (2), (3) etc. This enables authors to make corrections to their manuscripts and then return it for checking. If you wish to make general comments then please add these in paragraphs before and/or after the itemised points.

All comments are confidential, so your name will not be sent to the authors or other referees.

If you would like to become a BDJ referee or have any questions regarding the review process, please contact us via bdjmanuscripts@nature.com