[ENG] Peer Review @NOS

Critical discussion and review are indispensable in achieving the highest reliability of research results. At BEM, we aim to teach students the fundamentals of scientific reviewing and manuscript writing, while sensitizing them to weaknesses of the current publication system.  

To implement this, we challenged ourselves to build the review process that is closest to our vision of an open-science student journal and supports students on the way to their first publication: 
 

1. Pre-Registration 

Students who want to get the most out of publishing in our journal can submit their ideas for publication at a very early stage. This pre-registration will improve the transparency and quality of research while student-authors receive important feedback on their planned project early on.  

2. Pre-Print Publication 

After an editorial review, every submitted manuscript will be published as a preprint if it fits the scope of our journal and meets our submission and publication guidelines. 

3. Review 

We aim to develop every submitted manuscript to the best possible version by an open, transparent, and educated peer-reviewing process. Using our journal platform, reviews are published alongside the pre-print and final versions of the article. Each manuscript is reviewed by  

a) two or more student reviewers that have completed our peer review crash course or our peer review fellowship and  

b) anyone from the research community who would like to comment on the article on our platform.  

Our reviewing crash course, fellowship and educational journal clubs connect the basics of scientific publishing with hands-on practice and show that peer reviewing is a fun and teachable skill. 
 

4. Publication 

Our journal is organized in sections (Medical Humanities, Basic Research, Clinic and translational Research, Statistics) to ensure that our student editors meet the demands of the broad range of topics submitted to BEM. When a manuscript has passed the reviewing process, we hold open editorial meetings to discuss the final publication following a structured protocol. Finally, we regard the final product as a joint product by authors, reviewers, and our editorial team. 

The Berlin Exchange Medicine journal platform 

is our online powerhouse created in cooperation with our partners at PubPub.org. Here, pre-print publications are presented to readers and reviewers. The platform is designed to incorporate both the publication of preprints, their respective reviews and curated articles alongside editorials and production series.  

Communication with our BEM-Tank, authors, reviewers, senior advisors and the research community guide us in optimizing our own reviewing process.