Table 1. General characteristics of the included journals.
| Sample 1 (N = 72) 1 | Sample 2 (N = 58) 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | |
| Impact factor | Med = 2.674 | Med = 2.652 |
| IQR = [2.28–3.27] | IQR = [2.28–3.26] | |
| Field* | ||
| Basic sciences | 34 (47) | 29 (50) |
| Clinical | 57 (80) | 48 (83) |
| Public Health | 41 (57) | 31 (53) |
| Health systems and policy | 23 (32) | 17 (29) |
| Other | 4 (5) 2 | 8 (14) 3 |
| Publisher | ||
| Taylor & Francis | 4 (6) | 4 (7) |
| BioMed Central (BMC) | 61 (85) | 52 (89) |
| Other | 7 (9) 4 | 2 (4) 5 |
| Journal indexed in Medline | 70 (97) | 58 (100) |
| Peer review only by invitation process | ||
| No (open participation) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Yes (invitation needed) | 71 (99) | 57 (98) |
| Not reported | 1 (1) | 1 (2) |
| Peer review report: | ||
| Pre-publication review | 65 (90) | 53 (91) |
| Post-publication review | 7 (10) | 5 (9) |
| Open identity of peer reviewer | 32 (44) | 21 (36) |
*Total does not add up to 100 due to overlap
1 sample 1 includes articles of any type of original research. Sample 2 is restricted to only randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
2 n = 2: Computational and Biotechnologies; n = 1: Biomedical; n = 1: Translational
3 n = 3: Research Methodologies; n = 2: monitoring and computational modeling; n = 1: Health information technology; n = 1: Health financing and Economics; n = 1: Medical Education and Training
4 n = 1: Springer; n = 1: Oxford University Press; n = 1: Cambridge University Press; n = 1: BMJ Publishing Group; n = 1: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE); n = 1: Wellcome; n = 1:Physiopedia
5 n = 1: Springer; n = 1: Wellcome