Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Editorials

Opening up BMJ peer review

BMJ 1999; 318 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7175.4 (Published 02 January 1999) Cite this as: BMJ 1999;318:4

Rapid Response:

Re:Open peer review system: advantages and disadvantages

Open peer review system has both advantages and disadvantages. The
most important advantage is that a reviewer will hesitate to make comments
using the terms that would hurt the authors. He/she will make constructive
comments more politely so that the authors will find it easy to accept.

The disadvantage is that the comments on the papers by more senior or
reknowned authors may be biased.

The open peer review system, however, is worth trying to evalutae its
results in the future. Perhaps, an option could be given to the reviewer
whether he/she would like to be identified.

Competing interests: No competing interests

10 November 2010
Badri P Badhu
Editor
BPKIHS, Dharan, Nepal