Peer Review

Manuscripts submitted to the journal are reviewed by one of the editors and if appropriate, is sent out for review. Each article submission will typically be sent to two or three reviewers for consideration. As the review process is double-blinded, i.e. neither the author or reviewer will know who the other are, anonymised comments from reviewers will be provided to the author to assist in revision of the submission, if required. Submissions are typically only sent for one round of reviews, unless there are significant concerns or substantial redrafting is required.

Manuscripts submitted to journals are privileged communications that are authors’ private, confidential property, and authors may be harmed by premature disclosure of any or all of a manuscript’s details. Reviewers therefore should keep manuscripts and the information they contain strictly confidential. Reviewers must not publicly discuss authors’ work and must not appropriate authors’ ideas before the manuscript is published. Reviewers must not retain the manuscript for their personal use and should destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting their reviews.

Reviewers are expected to respond promptly to requests to review and to submit reviews within the time agreed. Reviewers’ comments should be constructive, honest, and polite.

Reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer-review process if a conflict exists or becomes apparent during review. Reviewers are also expected to report potential author conflicts of interest if they become apparent during the review. If the journal knows of any potential conflicts of interest, but determines that the submission can be considered for publication, these will be communicated to the reviewer, while ensuring that the author's remain anonymous.

Become a reviewer

If you have a honours or higher degree and a specialist interest/expertise in an aspect of paramedic practice, why not become a reviewer for the journal? To find out more and register your interest, please send a short CV via email to editor@thebpj.uk.

If you have not been a reviewer for a journal before, we strongly recommend that you undertake one of the free e-learning courses that are available:

All reviewers are requested to review the COPE guidance for peer reviewers.