Peer Review
First and foremost this is a collaborative partnership to achieve the objectives of the journal and the authors with respect to scientific writing.
Upon electronic receipt the manuscript will be reviewed for:
- Compliance with the DMPHP Scope; a manuscript maybe rejected with an explanation to seek a more appropriate journal
- Compliance with the submitted “Type of Article” category; a manuscript maybe returned to the authors with a recommendation to submit to a more appropriate DMPHP article category.
- Compliance with the Instructions for Authors; an article maybe rejected or returned to the authors to comply.
- Grammar and spelling; an article maybe rejected or returned to the authors with a recommendation to seek professional English medical writing assistance before further review.
The Managing Editor or Editor-in Chief will assign an appropriate manuscript to a Deputy Editor for an initial review who will assign the manuscript to an Associate Editor to supervise the review process.
Each submitted manuscript (except a Letter to the Editor) is reviewed by a minimum of 2 peer reviewers this may be any combination of reviewers from the DMPHP panel, Associate or Deputy Editor. A Letter to the Editor will be reviewed at the discretion of the Editors.
If warranted, the submission will also be sent for statistical review.
The Associate Editor will complete their review and forward this to the Deputy Editor for a consensus review. The Deputy Editor will notify the corresponding author of this consensus decision.
If the Associate Editor and Deputy Editor do not reach consensus then the Editor-in-Chief, another Deputy Editor or member of the Editorial Board will be the arbiter to bring the review to consensus. Then the Deputy Editor will notify the corresponding author of this decision.
- Reject: with an explanation if appropriate
- Revise:
- To remain as the submitted Type of Article
- As another Type of Article with explanation
- Note that acceptance is not guaranteed depending on the progress of the revisions, as the editorial process with subsequent revisions may not meet the burden of acceptance.
- Accept:
- With reviewer comments, or, explanations to enhance the manuscript to meet the burden of acceptance
- The review process and revisions may continue depending on the progress of the revisions with continued attention by the Editors and reviewers
- Accept production files needed (final acceptance)
This process will repeat until Accept-production files needed or rejection.
The author may suggest names of three potential reviewers and the identities of peer reviewers are kept confidential.
After Acceptance
Page Proofs and Corrections
Articles are edited in acceptance date order, and corresponding authors will receive electronic page proofs of the complete typeset article before publication. Portable document format (PDF) files of the typeset pages and support documents (eg, reprint order form) will be sent to the corresponding author by e-mail. Complete instructions will be provided with the e-mail for answering copy editor queries and returning corrections to the publisher within 24 hours.
It is the author's responsibility to ensure that there are no errors in the proofs. Changes that have been made to conform to journal style will stand if they do not alter the authors' meaning. Only the most critical changes to the accuracy of the content will be made. Changes that are stylistic or are a reworking of previously accepted material will be disallowed. Figure modification or replacement and major rewrites will be returned to the scientific editor, and possibly sent to peer review again. The publisher reserves the right to deny any changes that do not affect the accuracy of the content. Authors may be charged for alterations to the proofs beyond those required to correct errors or to answer queries.
Embargo Policy
All information regarding the content and publication date of the accepted manuscripts is confidential. Information about or contained in accepted articles cannot appear in any media outlet (print, broadcast, or electronic) until the date specified for that article by the publisher.
Publishing your article as Gold Open Access
You will have the option to publish your article as Gold Open Access, enabling the final published version to be made freely available under a Creative Commons license. You might be required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) for Gold Open Access. You may be eligible for a waiver or discount, for example if your institution has a Transformative agreement with Cambridge University Press. For more information about your Open Access options, please see here. For more information about the benefits of choosing to publish Open Access, see here.