List of Top Open Peer-reviewed Journals in Surgery (2024)

List of Top Open Peer-reviewed Journals in Surgery (2024)

1. Surgeries (Optional Open-peer-reviewed)
2. Asian Journal of Case Reports in Surgery
3. Asian Journal of Research in Surgery
4. Surgical Techniques Development
5. Brazilian Journal of Transplantation
6. Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery 
7. BMC Anesthesiology

What is open peer review?

Open peer review (OPR), where review reports and reviewers’ identities are published alongside the articles, represents one of the last aspects of the open science movement to be widely embraced, although its adoption has been growing since the turn of the century (Wolfram etal., 2020) . Open peer review refers to various modifications of the traditional scholarly peer review process. These modifications aim to address perceived shortcomings of the conventional system. Here are the three common forms of open peer review:

1. Open Identities:

• In open peer review, authors and reviewers are aware of each other’s identities. Unlike traditional peer review, where reviewers remain anonymous to anyone but the journal’s editors, open peer review allows transparency by revealing reviewer names to authors.
• However, reviewer identities may or may not be disclosed to the public.

1. Open Reports:

• Under this model, review reports are made public, rather than being confidentially shared only with the article’s authors. This includes publishing not only the reviewers’ comments but also the authors’ responses and editors’ recommendations.
• Typically, this applies to articles accepted for publication, not those that are rejected. 

1. Open Participation:

• In open peer review, self-selected reviewers (beyond invited experts) can comment on an article. The assumption is that the article’s content is openly accessible.
• These self-selected reviewers may contribute either brief comments or comprehensive reviews.
• The text of the article is openly available, allowing broader community participation in the review process.

The adoption of open peer review aims to enhance transparency, provide incentives, reduce wastefulness, and address issues like bullying and harassment in scholarly communication.

What are the benefits of Open Peer Review?

Open peer review (OPR) is a transparent process that allows scholarly articles to be evaluated by experts in the field, while also revealing the identities of both authors and reviewers. OPR can improve the quality of research by:

• Encouraging constructive feedback: Openness in the identities of authors and reviewers can lead to better quality feedback rather than simply rejecting the paper.
• Reducing bias: Everything is openly available to all, which can reduce the possibility of bias.
• Empowering authors: Authors can lead the process by suggesting reviewers themselves.
• Improving accountability: The quality of current scientific publications is at stake.
• Encouraging collaboration: OPR encourages collaboration and promotes diversity of perspectives, ultimately leading to more robust and credible research outcomes.
• Providing learning opportunities: OPR places a research work in the context of a discussion, and gives authors, readers and others a chance to better understand the process from the initial manuscript submission to final published version.
• Exposing possible conflicts of interest: OPR may help to expose possible conflicts of interest in some cases.

Adoption of OPR by publishers (Wolfram etal., 2020) [1]

 A summary of the most prolific publishers contributing to OPR and their headquarters country appears below. Although many journals today attract an international audience and are managed by international teams of researchers, the prevalence of OPR journals associated with publishers based in Europe stands out. Twenty-four of the 38 (63.2%) identified publishers are based in Europe and account for 445 out of the 617 titles (72.1%). Although the publishers are based in Europe, many of the journals they publish may support journals originating from other areas of the world (e.g., Kowsar). Furthermore, 500 of the OPR journals (81.0%) are published by only five publishers (MDPI, SDI, BioMed Central, Frontiers Media S.A., Kowsar). This points to the important role that publishers have played to date in the promotion of OPR (Wolfram etal., 2020) [1].

1. *United Kingdom (19 journals), United States (9), Argentina (1), Bulgaria (1), Canada (1), France (1), Germany (1), Ireland (1), Kenya (1), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1)

Recent Biggest Discoveries and advances in Surgery (2024)

1. Robotic Surgery: Robotic surgery has continued to evolve, offering enhanced precision, dexterity, and ergonomics. The da Vinci system, for example, provides surgeons with a magnified 3D view and articulated instruments that improve surgical outcomes [2].
2. Bariatric Surgery and PCOS: A recent study found that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy significantly improves ovulatory events and cardiometabolic profiles in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared to medical therapy alone [3].
3. Paraesophageal Hernia Repair: Updated analyses suggest that elective laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernias has a significantly lower mortality rate compared to emergency repairs, leading to a recommendation for surgical consultation regardless of symptoms [4].
4. Postoperative Antibiotics in Pediatric Appendicitis: New research is reevaluating the role of postoperative antibiotics in children with gangrenous appendicitis, potentially changing postoperative care protocols [5].

References

1. Wolfram, D., Wang, P., Hembree, A. et al. Open peer review: promoting transparency in open science. Scientometrics 125, 1033–1051 (2020). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-020-03488-4
2. Elizabeth Z Goh, Tariq Ali, Robotic surgery: an evolution in practice, Journal of Surgical Protocols and Research Methodologies, Volume 2022, Issue 1, January 2022, snac003, https://doi.org/10.1093/jsprm/snac003
3. Samarasinghe SNS, Leca B, Alabdulkader S, et al. Bariatric surgery for spontaneous ovulation in women living with polycystic ovary syndrome: the BAMBINI multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2024; 403:2489.
4. DeMeester SR, Bernard L, Schoppmann SF, et al. Elective Laparoscopic Paraesophageal Hernia Repair Leads to an Increase in Life Expectancy Over Watchful Waiting in Asymptomatic Patients: An Updated Markov Analysis. Ann Surg 2024; 279:267.
5. Cramm SL, Graham DA, Blakely ML, et al. Postoperative Antibiotics, Outcomes, and Resource Use in Children With Gangrenous Appendicitis. JAMA Surg 2024; 159:511.