Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Biomedical Digital Libraries is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that considers manuscripts on all aspects of digital library development in biomedical settings, including academic medical centers, research and development institutes, and health care institutions. A digital library is understood to comprise digital collections, services, infrastructures and resources in support of learning, research, scholarly communications and preservation (see this definition at http://liswiki.org/wiki/Digital_library).

Biomedical Digital Libraries provides a forum for the discussion of innovation in the creation of, access to and management of biomedical information. Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to: new models of scholarly communication, advanced education applications/resources, institutional repositories, integration of biomedical information in the clinical setting, extending access to biomedical information, evaluation and assessment. Reports of collaborative initiatives with information technology and informatics partners are encouraged.

Biomedical Digital Libraries welcomes the submission of supplemental multimedia materials such as podcasts and videos.

 

Section Policies

Articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Biomedical Digital Libraries operates an open peer review policy, wherein authors' identity is disclosed to reviewers, and reviewers identity is disclosed to authors. Reviewers are also asked to declare any financial competing interests.

The Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editors, or a particular Associate Editor assigns submitted manuscripts to at least two reviewers. Reviewers will perform a signed review, which will become part of the pre-publication history. The reviewer also recommends manuscript revisions or a recommendation not to publish. Final acceptance is subject to editorial approval. The ultimate responsibility for any decision lies with the Editor-in-Chief, to whom any appeals against rejection should be addressed.

Biomedical Digital Libraries uses online peer review to speed up the publication process. The time taken to reach a final decision depends on whether reviewers request revisions, and how quickly authors are able to respond.

Edited by Marcus A. Banks, Biomedical Digital Libraries is supported by an international Editorial Board.

 

Publication Frequency

Biomedical Digital Libraries will publish an article as soon as it ready for publication. We welcome submission of supplementary multimedia materials such as podcasts and videos.

 

Open Access Policy

Biomedical Digital Libraries provides immediate open access to all of its content.

 

Archiving

As a condition of publication in Biomedical Digital Libraries, authors agree to submit their papers to either the DLIST (http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/) or E-LIS (http://eprints.rclis.org/) archives.

In addition, this journal plans to utilize the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Content Overview

Well-designed, original research reports with relevance to evidence-based librarianship and informatics are encouraged.

Biomedical Digital Libraries considers the following types of articles:

* Research - reports of data from original research.
* Commentaries - short, focussed and opinionated articles on any subject within the scope of Biomedical Digital Libraries. These articles are usually written by opinion leaders invited by the Editorial Board.
* Debate articles - present an argument that is not essentially based on practical research. Debate articles can report on all aspects of the subject including sociological and ethical aspects.
* Hypotheses - short articles presenting an untested original hypothesis backed solely by previously published results rather that any new evidence. They should outline significant progress in thinking that would also be testable.
* Methodology articles - present a new experimental method, test or procedure. The method described may either be completely new, or may offer a better version of an existing method. The article must describe a demonstrable advance on what is currently available.
* Resource reviews - short articles presenting a brief summary of an information source, for example, a book, web-site or media article. The review should assess strengths and weaknesses of the source and evaluate the overall usefulness to the audience it is intended for.
* Reviews - comprehensive, authoritative, descriptions of any subject within the scope of the journal. These articles are usually written by opinion leaders, invited by the Editorial Board.



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