Peer-review is the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity and significance to help editors determine whether the manuscript should be published in their journal. You can read more about the peer-review process here.
Head & Face Medicine operates an open peer-review system where the reviewers' names are included on the peer review reports for authors. In addition, if the article is published, the named reviewer reports are published online alongside the article under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. Previous versions of the manuscript and all author responses to the reviewers are available by contacting info@biomedcentral.com.
The benefit of open peer review is that it increases transparency. The peer reviewers and Editors are fully accountable for the decisions made, bias is reduced as reviewer reports are named, published reports can serve an educational purpose in helping facilitate training and research into peer review, and reviewers can get credit for their work.
After initial screening for general suitability by the Managing Editor-in-Chief, a manuscript is assigned to the appropriate Section Editor who ensures manuscripts are reviewed by two or more experts in the field. Reviewers are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent and whether the manuscript should be accepted, rejected or revised. Final decisions rest with the Managing Editor-in-Chief.