Manuscripts are peer reviewed and must be accepted by the BCMJ Editorial Board and up to three external peer reviewers prior to publication. See Peer Review for more information. Letters to the editor are reviewed by the Editorial Board only. The Board meets monthly, at which time submissions are distributed for review the following month. Staff acknowledge receipt of manuscripts and letters within 2 business days of receiving them.
The editor-in-chief contacts manuscript authors by email once the submission has been peer reviewed (usually within 8 to 10 weeks of submission) to inform them of the decision on their manuscript. The general criteria for acceptance include relevance to practising physicians, importance, validity, accuracy, originality, and clarity. Manuscripts typically take 5 to 10 months from the date of receipt to publication, depending on how quickly authors provide revisions and on the number of manuscripts already scheduled for publication. If an author waits 6 months or longer to submit revisions to a manuscript that was conditionally accepted, it will be reviewed as a new manuscript.