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Call for Research

Drummond Rennie, MD; Annette Flanagin, RN, MA; Fiona Godlee, MRCP; Jane Smith, MSc

JAMA. 2007;298(20):2420-2421.

Peer review, whether of manuscripts submitted for publication or of grant applications submitted for funding, is a central part of the scientific enterprise. Since the first announcement in 1986, we have held 5 Peer Review Congresses at 4-year intervals, and their success is demonstrated by the stimulus they provided to investigate the process whereby scientific work is selected, published, disseminated, and accessed.^1-5 This progress has been measured both in increases in the number of abstracts submitted to the Peer Review Congresses and MEDLINE citations.⁶

We now announce the Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 10-12, 2009. This congress, organized by JAMA and the BMJ Publishing Group, will feature 3 days of presentations of original research. As with the previous congresses, our aim is to improve the quality and credibility of peer review as used by journals and funders and to help advance the efficiency, effectiveness, and equitability of biomedical publication and the dissemination of scientific information throughout the world. As before, we urge scientists, editors, publishers, funders, readers, and all who are interested in the processes by which science is funded and published to get going on their research.

After the first 4 congresses, JAMA published theme issues containing 116 articles derived from the presentations. As had been our announced intention from the start of this initiative, we decided that for the science of peer review to become mature, it had to prove it could flourish in the open world of journals. To help with this transition, JAMA, BMJ, and the Medical Journal of Australia each agreed to publish a selection of papers presented at the Fifth Congress in 2005 (other journals were invited to join in this effort but none were willing to pledge such consideration in advance). Of the 44 papers presented from the podium, 13 have been published in these 3 journals, and another 18 papers have been published in 14 other journals. Of those papers presented as posters, 27 of 51 have been published in 18 journals since the congress. The current publication rates of papers and posters from this congress are 70% and 53%, respectively, indicating a maturity of the science of peer review and biomedical publication on par with that of other research.^7-8 Thus, for the Sixth Peer Review Congress, the papers and posters, once presented and discussed at the congress, can be considered for publication by any journal.

Topics of interest include those listed in the Box. Abstracts on any aspect of peer review and scientific publication and information exchange will be considered. Since opinion is cheap, often evidence-free, and rarely advances the field, abstracts that report new research and findings will be given priority.

Box. Topics of Interest for the Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication Mechanisms of peer review and editorial decision making used by journals and funders Evaluations of the quality, validity, and practicality of peer review and editorial decision making Biases, breakdowns, and other weaknesses Quality assurance for reviewers and editors Authorship, contributorship, and responsibility for published material Conflicts of interest Research misconduct Peer review of grant proposals Ethical issues and concerns Editorial freedom and integrity Editorial policies and responsibilities The affects of funding and sponsorship on scientific publication Economics of and new financial models for peer review and scientific publication Online and Web-based peer review and publication Open access and archiving Prepublication posting and release of information Evaluations of the quality of print and online information Quality and reliability of data presentation and scientific images Methods for improving the quality, efficiency, and equitable distribution of biomedical information New technologies that affect the quality, integrity, dissemination, and access of biomedical information The future of scientific publication RETURN TO TEXT

Deadline for submission of abstracts is March 1, 2009. Instructions for preparing and submitting abstracts and updates on plans for the congress will be available on the Peer Review Congress Web site at http://www.jama-peer.org or by contacting Jennifer Reiling, JAMA, 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610 USA; telephone: 312-464-5108; fax: 312-464-5824; e-mail: jama-peer{at}jama-archives.org.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Editorials represent the opinions of the authors and JAMA and not those of the American Medical Association.

Author Affiliations: Dr Rennie (drummond.rennie{at}ucsf.edu) is Deputy Editor and Ms Flanagin is Managing Deputy Editor, JAMA, Chicago, Illinois; Dr Godlee is Editor in Chief and Ms Smith is Deputy Editor, BMJ, London, England.

REFERENCES
1. Rennie D. Guarding the guardians: a conference on editorial peer review. JAMA. 1986;256(17):2391-2392. FULL TEXT | ISI | PUBMED 2. Guarding the guardians: research on editorial peer review: selected proceedings from the First International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. JAMA. 1990;263(theme issue):1317-1441.3. Rennie D, Flanagin A. The Second International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. JAMA. 1994;272(2):91. FULL TEXT | ISI | PUBMED 4. Third International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. JAMA. 1998;280(3, theme issue):203-306. http://www.ama-assn.org/public/peer/previous.html.5. Fourth International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. JAMA. 2002;287(21, theme issue):2759-2871. http://www.ama-assn.org/public/peer/previous.html.6. Rennie D. Fourth International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. JAMA. 2002;287(21):2759-2760. FREE FULL TEXT 7. Scherer RW, Dickersin K, Langenberg P. Full publication of results initially presented in abstracts: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 1994;272(2):158-162. ABSTRACT 8. Scherer RW, Langenberg P, von Elm E. Full publication of results initially presented in abstracts. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007(2):MR000005. PUBMED