The journal has open access, open peer review, and has an open data policy.
BMJ Open Science has a clear focus on methodological rigour with an emphasis on transparency, integrity, and reproducibility of the evidence base in order to improve healthcare, says BMJ.
The scope is broad and covers the whole spectrum of preclinical and translational biomedical research, from study protocols through to original research articles, data descriptor articles and systematic reviews.
The research questions addressed must be sound but not necessarily novel, and they must be important and pertinent to human health in a preclinical setting. Eminent scientists from Europe, China, North and South America and from a broad range of biomedical disciplines will serve as members of the Editorial Board.
Editor-in-Chief, Dr Emily Sena is a researcher specialised in the validity of preclinical studies based at the University of Edinburgh. She says the journal “will provide a platform to promote and engender trust in the research we publish and transparency in the processes we use to achieve this.”
She adds: “Our editorial policies and partnerships with community projects aim to help the methods, data and results that are published in BMJ Open Science be reproducible. Editors and reviewers will assess manuscripts against scientific and ethical criteria only and will not judge novelty or predict impact. We encourage the publication of experiments with null and negative results.”
Allison Lang, Publishing Director at BMJ, says: "Biomedical research is fundamental to new developments in clinical medicine. As part of our commitment to helping make a healthier world, BMJ wants to bring its world-renowned focus on excellence in publication to this field of science in general. We look forward to working with Dr Sena and the preclinical and translational biomedical community to achieve this.”
