Reasons for declining to review (all journals, n = 258)
| How important was each of the following factors in your decision to decline to review?* | Very or extremely important n (%) | Moderately important n (%) | Not at all or slightly important n (%) | Mean (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Items are presented in the order they appeared in the questionnaire. | ||||
| Percentages do not sum to 100% because of missing data. | ||||
| *Responses on a 5-point Likert scale: 1, not at all important; 2, slightly important; 3, moderately important; 4, very important; and 5, extremely important. | ||||
| †Percentages based on the number of BMJ respondents who had not declined a request to review in the study period (n = 60). | ||||
| Insufficient interest in the paper | 53 (21) | 54 (21) | 148 (57) | 2.26 (1.26) |
| Having to review too many manuscripts for this journal | 26 (10) | 31 (12) | 194 (75) | 1.76 (1.11) |
| Having to review too many manuscripts for other journals | 76 (29) | 47 (18) | 130 (50) | 2.54 (1.45) |
| Length of the manuscript | 2 (1) | 17 (7) | 231 (90) | 1.29 (0.63) |
| Quality of the manuscript | 21 (8) | 26 (10) | 204 (79) | 1.63 (1.01) |
| Tight deadline for completing the review | 77 (30) | 62 (24) | 113 (44) | 2.70 (1.32) |
| Conflicts with other workload | 197 (76) | 23 (9) | 33 (13) | 4.06 (1.31) |
| Having conflicting interests | 38 (15) | 20 (8) | 190 (74) | 1.79 (1.29) |
| Knowing someone more appropriate to review the manuscript | 35 (14) | 37 (14) | 174 (67) | 1.99 (1.26) |
| Having previously reviewed several papers on the same topic | 3 (1) | 9 (4) | 223 (86) | 1.26 (0.59) |
| Comments not taken into account in the past reviewing experience | 8 (3) | 13 (5) | 210 (81) | 1.34 (0.81) |
| Concern that subsequent requests to review could become burdensome | 13 (5) | 32 (12) | 185 (72) | 1.66 (0.93) |
| Dislike of open peer review process (BMJ reviewers only)† | 2 (3) | 4 (7) | 42 (70) | 1.40 (0.89) |
| Reputation of the journal | 11 (4) | 15 (6) | 202 (78) | 1.40 (0.86) |
| Lack of formal recognition of reviewer contribution | 8 (3) | 14 (5) | 207 (80) | 1.38 (0.77) |
| Having to use the online review system | 12 (5) | 16 (6) | 201 (78) | 1.39 (0.92) |
| Absence from work | 48 (19) | 20 (8) | 157 (61) | 2.02 (1.44) |
| Delay in accessing the manuscript | 24 (9) | 13 (5) | 187 (72) | 1.60 (1.09) |