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Manuscript transfers

A manuscript transfer provides you with a convenient way of resubmitting your manuscript file and any reviewer comments to another journal within our publishing portfolio.

We are committed to helping you find the right home for your research and we will provide you with guidance and technical support through all stages of the transfer process.


What are the benefits of a transfer?

Choice – A transfer offer provides a selection of suitable alternative journals within the publishing group, to help ensure that you find an appropriate home for your research so that it reaches the right audience

Save time – No reformatting necessary and files can be automatically transferred

Unburden peer-reviewers – All previous reviews are transferred

Faster publication – Transfer of reviews helps eliminate re-review, saving time between submission and publication

What is the Transfer Desk?

The Transfer Desk is our new service set up to help authors who have not been successful in their original submission.

If your research is of good quality, then it may be suitable for another journal.  

The Transfer Desk aims to deliver choice and support to you as an author, by presenting a range of publication options and information about suitable journals, as well as providing personal assistance to help you find the best home for your research. 

How does the Transfer Desk work?

A Transfer Desk Editorial Assistant will combine your preferences and any editor recommendations with our journal-matching technology to find the best journal for your work within our portfolio.

Our assistants are always ready and available to answer any transfer-related queries and will provide you with technical assistance relating to your transfer. They are also happy to approach a journal Editor and seek a prompt response to a pre-submission enquiry, on your behalf.

If you choose to follow the steps to transfer your manuscript to a new journal, your input will be needed, both to agree to the transfer and to complete the submission to the new journal.

What if I do not want to transfer my manuscript at all?

Your manuscript will not be transferred without your input. After an editor rejects a manuscript and suggests that it may be suitable for a transfer, the editor will send out their decision letter including details of transfer options.

If you choose to decline a transfer at this point, you can follow a link within the decision letter to do so and your file will be closed. Likewise, if you don’t take any action regarding the offer, your file will remain closed.

Withdrawing a transfer

You can withdraw a transfer at any point during the process, by contacting the Transfer Desk. You are under no obligation to submit your manuscript to the journals suggested by the Editor or Transfer Desk Assistant.  

Any questions?

Please contact the Transfer Desk at transfersdesk@biomedcentral.com


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Annual Journal Metrics

  • Citation Impact 2023
    Journal Impact Factor: 4.8
    5-year Journal Impact Factor: 5.8
    Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 1.019
    SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 1.727

    Speed 2023
    Submission to first editorial decision (median days): 8
    Submission to acceptance (median days): 110

    Usage 2023
    Downloads: 1,435,876
    Altmetric mentions: 3,237