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Table 3 Time trends in basic and peer-review characteristics and processing times

From: A descriptive analysis of the characteristics and the peer review process of systematic review protocols published in an open peer review journal from 2012 to 2017

Year

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Overall

(n = 21)

(n = 56)

(n = 92)

(n = 106)

(n = 124)

(n = 145)

(n = 544)

Number of protocols registered in PROSPERO, Absolute (%)

17 (80.1%)

42 (75.0%)

81 (88.0%)

93 (87.7%)

119 (96.0%)

133 (91.7%)

485 (89.2%)

Registered prior submission

 Absolute (%)

11 (64.7%)

30 (71.4%)

62 (76.5%)

84 (90.3%)

112 (94.1%)

125 (94.0%)

424 (87.4%)

 Days, Mean (SD)

45 (45)

67 (77)

78 (110)

87 (131)

101 (107)

110 (129)

94 (117)

 Days, Median (IQR)

22 (7–85)

43 (13–71)

36 (11–93)

29 (8–114)

71 (28–127)

62 (22–152)

49 (15–120)

Submission to first peer-review

 Days, Mean (SD)

28 (13)

35 (24)

32 (16)

35 (20)

55 (55)

75 (65)

50 (48)

 Days, Median (IQR)

29 (19–42)

32 (22–41)

29 (21–41)

32 (20–46)

39 (23–70)

52 (31–95)

36 (22–57)

Submission to acceptance

 Days, Mean (SD)

74 (42)

77 (44)

82 (55)

91 (44)

109 (52)

165 (85)

111 (69)

 Days, Median (IQR)

61 (46–105)

77 (51–95)

75 (46–105)

80 (56–117)

103 (72–138)

142 (103–214)

98 (64–139)

Submission to publication

 Days, Mean (SD)

91 (43)

101 (46)

99 (55)

110 (47)

124 (54)

180 (87)

128 (70)

 Days, Median (IQR)

86 (59–127)

99 (73–118)

91 (64–120)

101 (74–136)

118 (84–148)

158 (117–222)

113 (82–155)

Acceptance to publication

 Days, Mean (SD)

17 (21)

24 (32)

18 (10)

18 (12)

14 (7)

16 (11)

17 (15)

 Days, Median (IQR)

12 (0–22)

15 (11–20)

16 (11–21)

16 (11–21)

13 (9–17)

12 (9–19)

14 (9–19)

Number of reviewers

 Mean (SD)

0.9 (0.6)

1.1 (0.5)

1.1 (0.6)

1.4 (0.8)

1.1 (0.6)

1.7 (0.8)

1.3 (0.7)

 Median (IQR)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–2)

1 (1–1)

2 (1–2)

1 (1–2)

Number of revisions

 Mean (SD)

0.9 (0.8)

1.0 (0.5)

1.2 (0.7)

1.2 (0.6)

1.0 (0.4)

1.2 (0.5)

1.1 (0.6)

 Median (IQR)

1 (0–1)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–2)

1 (1–2)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–1)

1 (1–1)

Extent of first revision, Absolute (%)

 Major

4 (19.1%)

14 (25.0%)

25 (27.2%)

38 (35.9%)

49 (39.5%)

76 (52.4%)

206 (37.9%)

 Minor

11 (52.4%)

34 (60.7%)

52 (56.5%)

55 (51.9%)

63 (50.8%)

57 (39.3%)

272 (50.0%)

 No revision required

1 (4.8%)

3 (5.4%)

6 (6.5%)

2 (1.9%)

3 (2.4%)

7 (4.8%)

22 (4.0%)

 No (open) peer review

5 (23.8%)

4 (7.1%)

8 (8.7%)

10 (9.4%)

8 (6.5%)

4 (2.8%)

40 (7.2%)

 Reviewer report missing

0 (0%)

1 (1.8%)

1 (1.1%)

1 (0.9%)

1 (0.8%)

1 (0.7%)

4 (0.9%)

  1. Abbreviations: SD Standard deviation; IQR Interquartile range