How the Open Participation review process works
For Authors
During submission, authors may choose to opt in to open participation peer review.
If enabled:
- The manuscript title and abstract appears on the JMIR Preprints platform for prospective reviewers to view.
- Only the title, abstract, and author names are public by default.
- Authors may optionally make the full article publicly viewable during peer review by publishing their submission as a preprint.
- Community reviewers may volunteer to evaluate the submission.
- Editorially invited reviewers still participate through the standard peer-review workflow.
Benefits for Authors
- Faster turnaround: Open participation is a complementary source of reviewers, meaning reviews may be secured faster and more feedback may be received, often leading to a quicker editorial decision.
- Reviewer engagement: Community reviewers typically select papers aligned with their interests and may provide more constructive, engaged feedback.
For Reviewers
How to Volunteer as a Reviewer
- Register or log in to your JMIR user account.
- Visit Latest Submissions Open for Peer Review to browse available manuscripts or follow JMIR on X/Twitter for updates on new preprints.
- Readers and reviewers can browse active open participation peer review submissions on the journal homepages and JMIR Preprints platform.
- Click “Peer Review Me” on a submission to indicate your interest in reviewing.
- Once confirmed by the Editorial Office, you will receive an invitation to the online review form where you can complete your review.
Reviewer Expectations
- Provide high-quality, constructive, evidence-based feedback (See How to write a high-quality peer review).
- Submit reviews within 2 weeks unless otherwise arranged.
- Follow JMIR Publications’ ethical and professional standards.
- Disclose any conflicts of interest (financial, personal, academic, or ideological), and any use of generative AI tools in preparing your review, following COPE recommendations (See How does JMIR Publications define a Conflict of Interest?)
Restrictions
- All volunteer reviewers are screened by the Editorial Office to ensure appropriate expertise and suitability before being formally assigned to a manuscript.
- Reviewers must not have conflicts of interest with the authors or the work.
- Signing up under a false identity, including by the authors themselves, is considered scientific misconduct.
- JMIR reserves the right to reject submissions with evidence of manipulation or identification of undisclosed COIs.
Reviewer Recognition
JMIR acknowledges reviewers by name on published articles and may offer additional recognition options (e.g., ORCID and Web of Science recognition, certificates of accomplishment). Reviewers of rejected manuscripts remain anonymous.
Quality Assurance in Open Participation Peer Review
To maintain rigor and integrity:
- The Editorial Office screens all open participation community reviewers before they are formally invited.
- Editors screen all open participation reviews for relevance and professionalism.
- Incomplete, biased, or inappropriate reviews are not considered in decisions.
- All editorial decisions are made by the handling editor and/or the Editor-in-Chief.