About CMAJ Open
CMAJ Open, an online open-access journal, was launched in January 2013. CMAJ Open welcomes high-quality research from all medical and health disciplines. Content is of interest to physicians and other health care professionals, health administrators, policy makers and patients, in Canada and internationally—and is available to readers at no charge.
CMAJ Open uses a continuous publishing model in which articles are published when ready, rather than waiting for a specific issue date.
Authors are asked to pay a publication fee upon acceptance. That an author can pay does not affect editorial decision-making.
CMAJ Open is part of the CMAJ Group and is owned by CMA Impact Inc., a subsidiary of the Canadian Medical Association.
Main Principles
CMAJ Open is founded on four main principles.
1. Open Access
CMAJ Open is available at no cost to readers in Canada and around the world. Authors will retain copyright for noncommercial use of their published paper. Please see Copyright, open access and permissions for more information.
2. Open to Research in all Medical Disciplines
CMAJ Open considers submissions in medical and health care research, including allied health professions.
3. Open to all Types of Research Studies
CMAJ Open considers research studies with a wide variety of methodologies, including, but not limited to, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case–control studies, cohort studies, surveys and qualitative research. Protocols, methods papers and pilot studies are also welcome.
4. Open Peer Review
CMAJ Open is committed to an open peer review system, in which reviewer comments, author responses and previous versions are available along with the final published version.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of articles does CMAJ Open publish?
CMAJ Open considers medical research with sound methodology from all medical disciplines, including research from allied health professions.
Study types include but are not limited to:
- Randomized controlled trials
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Cohort studies
- Case–control studies
- Surveys
- Studies of diagnostic and screening tests
- Qualitative studies
- Scoping reviews
- Research case series (but not single cases)
- Protocols
- Methods papers
- Pilot studies
Studies with local geographic focus or limited generalizability are considered, as well as those with negative results.
Why publish in CMAJ Open?
CMAJ Open uses rapid online publishing to disseminate research findings to the world at no charge to readers. The journal uses open peer review in which reviewer comments, author responses and previous versions are available along with the final published version.
CMAJ Open meets the requirements of more than 20 major international funding agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council and others, that publicly-funded research must be freely available online.
Benefits include:
- Rapid peer review and online access to reviewer comments
- Rapid online publishing to disseminate research findings to Canadians and to the world
- Retention of authors' copyright to their published article
- Free access to articles through cmajopen.ca and PubMed Central
For Canadian researchers, CMAJ Open provides an opportunity to disseminate local, regional and national research to policy-makers in Canada, researchers, practising physicians and other peers.
What is open-access publishing?
Open access is a publishing model that is being increasingly adopted in scholarly publishing as an alternative to traditional publishing. It is founded on the principle that all research should be available to anyone at no charge. To cover the costs of publication, authors pay a fee to publish.
Is there a publication fee for CMAJ Open?
To provide open access to all published material, authors are asked to pay a publication fee upon acceptance. This fee helps cover the costs of the review process, editing, production and other aspects of rapid online publication. The fee is $3000 CDN plus applicable sales tax per manuscript.
Author groups from developing countries, as determined by inclusion on the WHO Hinari list, may be eligible for a partial or complete waiver of publication fees. It is unlikely that a waiver will be granted to authors from established academic or research centres in the developed world. That an author can pay the publication fee does not affect editorial decision-making.
What is the difference between CMAJ Open and CMAJ?
CMAJ Open is an online open-access journal that publishes high-quality medical research without the need for authors to demonstrate high impact.
In contrast, CMAJ publishes original, high-quality, high-impact research that is new or definitive on a topic. CMAJ seeks research that is relevant and original with sound methodology. The journal also publishes a mix of research, news, reviews, analyses, practice and humanities articles online and in print.
CMAJ will also ask authors upon submission to pay a publication fee ($3500 CDN plus applicable sales tax) to publish their research study if it is accepted. As with CMAJ Open, authors who cannot pay may request an exemption.
Will my article be considered automatically for CMAJ Open if it is not accepted by CMAJ?
Authors may ask that their article be passed to CMAJ Open for consideration if it is rejected by CMAJ. CMAJ editors may also suggest to authors that a research paper may be more suitable for CMAJ Open and offer transfer. If authors agree to the transfer to CMAJ Open, all completed peer reviews will be transferred along with the manuscript and considered by the CMAJ Open editors. No further peer reviews may be required.
What is the peer review process for CMAJ Open?
CMAJ Open is committed to open peer review in which reviewer comments, author responses and previous versions are available online along with the final published version. This will provide a manuscript history for readers. All papers undergo internal review by at least 2 editors, and those undergoing peer review by at least 2 reviewers.
Will CMAJ Open accept industry-funded research?
Yes. As with all papers, CMAJ Open will consider the competing interests of the authors when deciding whether to publish.
How do I submit my article?
Authors must submit articles through CMAJ Open's ScholarOne web-based manuscript submission system.
When will my accepted article be published?
CMAJ Open operates on a continuous publishing model, in which accepted papers are published online as soon as they are ready for publication, without waiting for an issue. The published papers are collected into an issue quarterly.
Where is CMAJ Open indexed?
Articles published in CMAJ Open are available at cmajopen.ca from the day of publication. The journal is indexed in PubMed and in PubMed Central.
What are CMAJ Open's copyright restrictions?
Authors who publish in CMAJ Open retain copyright for noncommercial use. Please see Copyright, open access and permissions for more information.
What are CMAJ Open's editorial policies?
The editorial policies for CMAJ Open reflect best practices and include adherence to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the Committee on Publication Ethics guidance.
How do I submit a Letter to the Editor?
Letters to the Editor must be linked to an article published at www.cmajopen.ca. After accessing the article online, please click on "submit a response" in the right-hand column and follow the instructions.
How do I sign up for email alerts about published articles?
Contact information
Erin Russell is the Editor-in-Chief of CMAJ Open. If you have questions, please email us at [email protected].