Guidelines for Article Reviewers
Reviewer Guidelines
Articles submitted after August 2024 will first be published on our associated preprint server VeriXiv, and will undergo peer review there. Only once the article has passed peer review will the version of record article be published on Gates Open Research and indexed accordingly.
Gates Open Research’s peer review model
Before August 2024, peer review of articles on Gates Open Research takes place after publication; once the article is published, expert reviewers are formally invited to review under our open and transparent peer review model. To improve the consistency of definitions and terminology in peer review, Gates Open Research uses the NISO standard terminology for peer review to summarise our peer review process as:
- Identity transparency: All identities visible
- Reviewer interacts with: Editor, other reviewers, authors
- Review information published: Review reports, submitted manuscript, reviewer identities
- Post publication commenting: Open
More information is available on Peer review process for articles section of the How it Works page.
Peer review reports are published alongside the reviewers’ full names and affiliations as soon as they’re submitted, and remain attached to the article if it is indexed with sites such as PubMed. Peer review directly determines whether an article will be indexed, via the approval status that reviewers select when reviewing the article.
If you’ve been invited to review an article and would like more information on our model, please visit our How it Works page. Alternatively, please use the menu to the left for more detailed information on the peer review process.
Article Submission
Publication &
Data Deposition
Data Deposition
Open Peer Review
& User Commenting
& User Commenting
Article Revision
Scope and article eligibility
Gates Open Research publishes articles reporting any original research that has been funded (or co-funded) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This includes results of basic and translational research, clinical and epidemiologic studies, or clinical trials, as well as qualitative and observational research relating to any of the areas funded by the Gates Foundation, including global health and development, agriculture and education. Papers reporting single findings, replications studies, and null results or negative findings are all welcome.
Reviewers are asked to assess the validity of the article content, rather than the novelty or interest levels. All articles and peer review reports are Open Access and published under a CC-BY license. Gates Open Research also has an Open Data policy: articles discussing original results must make available the underlying source data alongside, and the details of any software used to process them.
Our formal invited open peer-review process occurs after the article is published. Before publication, articles undergo checks by the in-house editorial team to ensure they meet our basic criteria. Our pre-publication checks include:
- The research presented in the article is partially or wholly Gates-funded - on submission authors must provide a grant number.
- Article types - articles are checked whether they meet the criteria and format of specific article types.
- Readability - as we do not copy edit articles, the standard of language and readability must be sufficient for readers to be able to follow the article.
- Plagiarism - articles are checked for plagiarism before publication.
- Methods section - we check that details of methods and resources are provided, so the work can be assessed (we will ask you as an expert reviewer to comment whether more information would be required for others to reproduce the work).
- Policies - we check that articles publishing research involving humans or animals adhere to our ethical policies.
- Data - we check that source data underlying the results are made openly available (we will ask you as an expert reviewer to comment whether the source data are appropriate for others to reproduce the work).
Reviewer eligibility
Reviewers are chosen using our reviewer criteria, ensuring that the people invited are experts in their field of research. If a paper includes statistical analysis or new statistical methods, reviewers are also selected based on their knowledge of these fields.
We are very appreciative of the work our reviewers do for us, and believe it is important for them to be rewarded for the time and effort they spend assessing papers, as peer review is an invaluable contribution to the scientific community. Read more here.
Peer reviewer code of conduct
The peer review process is a vital component of scholarly publishing, and we really appreciate the time and effort reviewers contribute towards this. To help ensure that peer review at Gates Open Research is constructive and beneficial to authors, readers and other reviewers, we ask that reviewers:
- Read the article fully - please read the full text of the article and view all associated figures, tables and data;
- Be thorough - a peer review report should discuss the article in full as well as individual points, and should demonstrate your understanding of the article;
- Be specific - your comments should contain as much detail as possible, with references where appropriate, so the authors are able to fully address the issue;
- Be constructive in your criticism - do not hesitate to include any concerns or criticisms you may have in your review, however, please do so in a constructive and respectful manner;
- Avoid derogatory comments or tone - review as you wish to be reviewed and ensure that your comments focus on the scientific content of the article in question rather than the authors themselves.
We would also recommend that reviewers familiarise themselves with the Committee On Publication Ethics’ (COPE) ethical guidelines for peer reviewers. If the editorial team are concerned that a review does not meet the standards above, we will contact the reviewer before publication of their peer review report.
Guidelines for reviewing
When you agree to review an article published by Gates Open Research you will receive an email with a link to the article, a proposed deadline, and information on how to submit your report. The request will also appear in your My pages if you already have an account with us.
If you have a potential competing interest please contact us before you begin to write the review, so that we can confirm you are eligible. When you submit your report we also ask that you declare any competing interests here also, so that they can be displayed on the peer review report when published.
Approval status
We ask reviewers to choose an approval status, which both helps directly determine whether an article is indexed with sites such as PubMed, and provides readers with an at-a-glance view of your thoughts on the article. Please bear in mind that the rating should be based on whether the paper is scientifically valid, not on the novelty or importance of an article.
The approval statuses to choose from are:
- Approved: No or only minor changes are required. For original research, this means that the experimental design, including controls and methods, is adequate; results are presented accurately and the conclusions are justified and supported by the data.
- Approved with Reservations: The reviewer believes the paper has academic merit, but has asked for a number of small changes to the article, or specific, sometimes more significant revisions.
- Not Approved: The article is of very poor quality and there are fundamental flaws in the article that seriously undermine the findings and conclusions.
Writing the review
We also ask reviewers for a report which reflects their assessment of the article, including any constructive criticisms they may have and suggestions for improvement. Please note that reviews should be written in good English - the editorial team will be in touch if we need further clarification or detail. The peer review form also includes questions to help reviewers focus on sections of the paper. These questions are compulsory and differ depending on the article type being reviewed. This report, the approval status and the reviewer’s full name and affiliation will be published alongside the article. When a reviewer submits their report we ask that they declare whether they have any competing interests, which will be displayed on the peer review report when published.
We would encourage reviewers to adhere to the principles of the Open Science Peer Review Oath; the Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE) has also developed guidelines for peer reviewers, which outlines basic principles for peer reviewers.
Guidelines for reviewing specific article types
Gates Open Research asks reviewers a set of questions tailored to each article type, as different article types may require a different focus. Click on the article types below to see the questions.
How to submit your peer review report
There are two ways for you to submit your report:
Submit your report online
To submit your report online, you can either use the link in the email you will have received upon agreeing, or visit your Peer Reviewing page (here you can find a record of the articles you have been invited to review, any draft peer review reports you may have, and all the peer review reports you have published with us). To submit a peer review report, simply go to the ‘Invited Reports’ tab and click “Yes, I agree to be a reviewer for this article”, confirm this action and then click “Write your report”. You can then write your report (and save a draft copy if desired), and then preview and submit it.
Submit your report offline
Alternatively, you can complete a report form in Word and email it to us. If you would prefer to write your report using this form, please contact the editorial team who will provide you with a copy.
The peer review report form includes a section for you to declare any competing interests, and for you to name anyone who co-reviewed the article with you. Co-reviewers’ names and affiliations are also published, so that they receive full credit.
Unless we have any questions about your report, it will be published alongside the article soon after you have submitted it to us. We will let you know how you can access it once it has been published.
The peer-review process
Peer review progression
The peer review status of the article changes as the reports are published. The progress of peer review is clearly marked on each article and is part of the citation.
Immediately on publication, and while reviewers are assessing the work, the article is labelled as “Awaiting peer review”. This forms part of the title and is shown in the Open Peer Review summary box within the article HTML and PDF. As soon as a peer review report is received, it is published alongside the article and the approval rating is displayed. As additional reports are received, the peer review status is updated. All articles remain fully published and available on Gates Open Research regardless of their peer review status.
Once an article receives two ‘Approved’ or two ‘Approved with Reservations’ status and one ‘Approved’ status, it will be indexed in PubMed and other bibliographic databases. All versions of the article, along with any associated data sets and peer review reports, will be deposited in PubMed Central.
Article revisions
At any time in the peer review process, the authors may choose to revise their article in response to the reviewer comments – when this happens, a new version is published and the original reviewers are re-invited to review. Reviewers can then publish an updated report, taking the revisions into account.
All versions of the article, and all peer review reports, will remain published so that anyone may see the history of the article. If you previously reviewed the article, updating your review to give feedback on the revised version is very important, as it allows the authors and readers to see whether your concerns have been addressed satisfactorily.
Volunteer to be a reviewer
We would love to hear from you. Please contact our editorial office and let us know you are interested in reviewing. When contacting us, please attach a copy of your CV and complete this form, so that we can be sure you meet our Reviewer Criteria. Don’t hesitate to let us know if there is an article you would like to be considered for, however please bear in mind that we cannot guarantee you will be invited to review a particular manuscript.