Submitting to a Topic Collection
Benefits of submitting to a Topic Collection
Topic Collections bring together articles into topical collections that make the articles published within them more discoverable. Publishing your article in a Topic Collection can increase the readership and citation of your research.
Many journals offer a 25% discount on the APC upon request for articles published within a Topic Collection – please consult the call for papers to see if any discounts are available for a particular Topic Collection.
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- Discoverability: Articles that are published in a Topic Collection will be collected together on a dedicated page of the journal website, maximising the discoverability of your research.
- Visibility: Promotion of Topic Collections by BMJ and Guest Editors to relevant researchers through various marketing channels increases your visibility.
- Integrity: BMJ has rigorous peer review standards and stringent checks to ensure the highest level of uncompromised editorial integrity.
- More Impact: Contributing to current discussions increases your exposure in the research community and the impact of your research.
- Grow your network: Collaborate and publish with your peers to establish new contacts and discover new perspectives in your field.
- Support: BMJ has a team dedicated to coordinating Topic Collections to ensure manuscripts move smoothly through the peer review process.
Submitting your manuscript
Manuscripts should be submitted through the associated journals’ regular submission portal. You can select the Topic Collection from a drop down menu upon submission.
Manuscripts that are deemed out of scope for the Topic Collection may be offered a transfer to the regular issue of the journal.
Editors will not use any recommended reviewers provided by authors. As such, we advise authors submitting to a Topic Collection to refrain from providing recommended reviewers.
Where possible, please provide an institutional email address and ORCID iD for all authors.
Peer review of Topic Collection submissions
Topic Collection manuscripts are subject to the usual editorial processes of the journal they are submitted to. BMJ has rigorous peer review standards and the journal’s Editor-in-Chief has oversight of the entire peer review process for Topic Collection manuscripts. In addition, BMJ has stringent processes to monitor manuscripts and ensure the integrity of the review process is not compromised.
Lead Editors of a Topic Collection will manage peer review, inviting reviewers and making a recommendation, but the final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief, ensuring the highest standards for authors, readers and the global research community.
Article Processing Charges
Articles submitted to Topic Collections in open access journals are subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC) if accepted for publication following peer review. Many journals offer a 25% discount on the APC upon request for articles published within a Topic Collection – please consult the call for papers to see if any discounts are available for a particular Topic Collection. If your article is accepted for publication in a Topic Collection offering a discount, you will be provided with a discount code at the point of acceptance to use at invoice.
Journal APC prices can be found in the “Article Processing Charges” section of the associated journal for the Topic Collection.
BMJ journals offer waivers for the full APC (100% discount of the APC) where all authors are based in low-income countries. In addition, a number of institutions have open access agreements with BMJ which can either cover the whole cost of open access publishing for authors at participating institutions or can allow authors to receive a discount of the APC. For more information, please visit the waivers and discounts section.
Publication of Topic Collections
Manuscripts published in a Topic Collection will be made available online on the relevant Topic Collection page and the table of contents on the journal website.