''Biology Direct'' is an online

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...

that publishes original,

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

research papers, reviews, hypotheses, comments and discovery notes in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

. The journal is published by

BioMed Central BioMed Central (BMC) is a United Kingdom-based, for-profit scientific open access publisher that produces over 250 scientific journals. All its journals are published online only. BioMed Central describes itself as the first and largest open ...

. The journal follows a peer review system which is different from the traditional peer review system, which aims to give more responsibility to authors, and reduce sources of bias. Published articles include signed reviewer reports, and responses to the reports from the authors, to provide readers with an additional guide to the article. Based on the information presented on their website: "Biology Direct's key aim is to provide authors and readers with an alternative to the traditional model of

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

. This includes making the author responsible for selecting potentially suitable reviewers for their manuscript, from the journal's Editorial Board; making the peer review process open rather than anonymous; and making the reviewers' reports public, thus increasing the responsibility of the referees and eliminating sources of abuse in the refereeing process."

References

External links

* BioMed Central academic journals Biology journals English-language journals Creative Commons Attribution-licensed journals {{biology-journal-stub