Core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals: consensus statement

David Moher; James Galipeau; Sabina Alam; Virginia Barbour; Kidist Bartolomeos; Patricia Baskin; Sally Bell-Syer; Kelly D Cobey; Leighton Chan; Jocalyn Clark; Jonathan Deeks; Annette Flanagin; Paul Garner; Anne-Marie Glenny; Trish Groves; Kurinchi Gurusamy; Farrokh Habibzadeh; Stefanie Jewell-Thomas; Diane Kelsall; José Florencio Lapeña Jr; Harriet MacLehose; Ana Marusic; Joanne E McKenzie; Jay Shah; Larissa Shamseer; Sharon Straus; Peter Tugwell; Elizabeth Wager; Margaret Winker; Getu Zhaori

doi:10.1186/s12916-017-0927-0

Core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals: consensus statement

BMC Med. 2017 Sep 11;15(1):167. doi: 10.1186/s12916-017-0927-0.

Authors

David Moher^{1

2}, James Galipeau³, Sabina Alam⁴, Virginia Barbour⁵, Kidist Bartolomeos⁶, Patricia Baskin^{7

8}, Sally Bell-Syer^{9

10}, Kelly D Cobey^{11

12

13}, Leighton Chan¹⁴, Jocalyn Clark¹⁵, Jonathan Deeks¹⁶, Annette Flanagin¹⁷, Paul Garner¹⁸, Anne-Marie Glenny¹⁹, Trish Groves²⁰, Kurinchi Gurusamy²¹, Farrokh Habibzadeh^{22

23

24}, Stefanie Jewell-Thomas²⁵, Diane Kelsall²⁶, José Florencio Lapeña Jr^{24

27

28

29}, Harriet MacLehose³⁰, Ana Marusic^{31

32}, Joanne E McKenzie³³, Jay Shah^{34

35

36}, Larissa Shamseer^{11

12}, Sharon Straus³⁷, Peter Tugwell^{12

38

39}, Elizabeth Wager^{40

41}, Margaret Winker²⁴, Getu Zhaori⁴²

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Rd, Room L1248, Box 201B, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada. dmoher@ohri.ca.
² School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. dmoher@ohri.ca.
³ Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Practice-Changing Research (CPCR), Ottawa Hospital - General Campus, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴ F1000 Platforms, Middlesex House, 34-42 Cleveland Street, London, W1T 4LB, UK.
⁵ Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, Division of Research and Commercialisation and Library, Division of Technology, Information and Library Services, QUT, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ Department of Strategy, Policy and Information, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁷ American Academy of Neurology, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
⁸ Council of Science Editors, Denver, Colorado, USA.
⁹ Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK.
¹⁰ Cochrane Central Executive, London, UK.
¹¹ Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Rd, Room L1248, Box 201B, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada.
¹² School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹³ Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
¹⁴ American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Reston, Virginia, USA.
¹⁵ The Lancet, London, UK.
¹⁶ Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁷ JAMA and The JAMA Network, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
¹⁹ Division of Dentistry, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
²⁰ BMJ Open, London, UK.
²¹ University College London, London, UK.
²² Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
²³ R&D Headquarters, Petroleum Industry Health Organization, Shiraz, Iran.
²⁴ World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Chicago, Illinois, USA.
²⁵ Elsevier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
²⁶ Canadian Medical Association Journal, Ottawa, Canada.
²⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine - Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines.
²⁸ Philippine Association of Medical Journal Editors (PAMJE), Quezon City, Philippines.
²⁹ Asia Pacific Association of Medical Journal Editors (APAME), Manila, Philippines.
³⁰ Cochrane Editorial Unit, London, UK.
³¹ University of Split School of Medicine, Cochrane Croatia Editor, Journal of Global Health, Split, Croatia.
³² European Association of Science Editors.
³³ School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
³⁴ School of Medicine, Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³⁵ Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³⁶ Nepal Association of Medical Editors, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³⁷ Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
³⁸ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁹ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁰ Sideview, Princes Risborough, UK.
⁴¹ TRIBE Doctoral School, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
⁴² Chinese Medical Journal, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: Scientific editors are responsible for deciding which articles to publish in their journals. However, we have not found documentation of their required knowledge, skills, and characteristics, or the existence of any formal core competencies for this role.

Methods: We describe the development of a minimum set of core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals.

Results: The 14 key core competencies are divided into three major areas, and each competency has a list of associated elements or descriptions of more specific knowledge, skills, and characteristics that contribute to its fulfillment.

Conclusions: We believe that these core competencies are a baseline of the knowledge, skills, and characteristics needed to perform competently the duties of a scientific editor at a biomedical journal.

Keywords: Biomedical journal; Core competencies; Delphi; Editor role; Expert consensus; Scientific editor.

MeSH terms

Biomedical Research / methods*
Consensus*
Editorial Policies
Humans
Periodicals as Topic
Publishing

Grants and funding

001/WHO_/World Health Organization/International