OpenSource: Cardiology is a peer-reviewed cardiology journal created by and for physicians, built on a transparent, meritocratic review model. High-quality reviewers earn recognition and co-authorship opportunities, creating a more equitable academic publishing ecosystem rooted in clinical expertise.
Potential reviewers are drawn from our Editorial Board. If you are interested in joining, please submit an application via the Editorial Application page and our team will be in touch.
Navigate to the Profile page and fill out your Personal Information, Academic Affiliation, and Subspecialty & Expertise sections. A complete profile helps the editorial team assign you manuscripts that match your expertise.
We strongly encourage you to add your ORCID iD — this links your reviews to your professional academic record.
Manuscripts are submitted through the Submission Portal. You will need to create an account to begin a submission. All submissions are reviewed for scope and quality by the editorial team prior to peer review assignment.
Authors will have an opportunity to indicate how AI was used in the preparation of their manuscript in accordance with ICMJE guidance. There is no penalty for AI use — it simply needs to be clearly delineated how it was used (e.g., writing assistance, data analysis, figure generation). AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
Yes. By submitting a manuscript, authors consent to allowing AI tools to review their article prior to publication in order to streamline the editorial process. This includes tasks such as reviewer selection, manuscript summarization, and copy editing.
By submitting a manuscript to OpenSource: Cardiology, authors consent to the possibility that a peer reviewer may exercise a co-authorship credit on their manuscript under the journal's co-authorship program. This would only occur after the manuscript has been accepted, and the corresponding author will be notified and asked to confirm before any changes are made to the author list. The corresponding author will also determine author order prior to resubmission.
Access is granted by invitation or application through the Editorial Board. If you were invited, you should have received an email with a link to create your account. If you're interested in joining the reviewer pool, please submit an application via the Editorial Application page.
You'll receive an email notification when a manuscript is assigned to you. You can also check your Reviewer Dashboard at any time — assigned manuscripts appear under the "Assigned" tab.
To qualify for a five-star review, you must accept the assignment within 3 days of receiving it and complete the review within 7 days of acceptance. Reviews submitted outside these windows may still be accepted but will not be eligible for a five-star rating.
If you need more time, contact support@opensourcecardiology.org before the deadline and we will do our best to accommodate.
A strong review includes:
- A brief, neutral summary of the manuscript's aims and findings (1–2 paragraphs)
- Major concerns (methodological issues, unsupported conclusions, missing analyses)
- Minor comments (clarity, formatting, reference gaps)
- A clear recommendation: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject
See the Reviewer Guidelines for detailed guidance and examples.
Decline the assignment immediately in the portal and specify that you have a conflict of interest. You do not need to provide details.
Yes. All manuscripts under review are strictly confidential. Do not share, discuss, or cite any aspect of a manuscript you are reviewing until it is published. Violation of this policy may result in removal from the reviewer pool.
Reviewers who demonstrate consistently exceptional peer review quality are eligible to be added as a co-author to a manuscript in which they have reviewed and contributed to scientifically, per ICMJE guidelines. To qualify, you must accumulate 5 five-star ratings from the overseeing editors on your submitted reviews.
Your progress is tracked in real time in the sidebar of your profile page under Co-Auth. Progress.
Your reviews are rated by the Associate Editor and Editor in Chief overseeing the manuscript. Ratings are based on the depth, specificity, and constructiveness of your feedback — not on whether your recommendation matched the final decision.
See the Reviewer Guidelines for a full description of the rating scale.
Once you have accumulated 5 five-star ratings, you will be able to exercise your co-authorship credit on a manuscript that you subsequently review. You will be able to exercise this option at the time of submitting your initial review of the manuscript.
This request will be kept completely confidential until the editorial decision is made to accept the manuscript. At that point, the corresponding author will be notified and will confirm that it is acceptable to add the reviewer as a co-author. The corresponding author will also choose the author order prior to resubmission.
A footnote will appear below the author byline on the published manuscript indicating that one of the authors served as a reviewer co-author.
Click Sign In on the homepage and then select Forgot password?. Enter your registered email address and we'll send you a password reset link.
Go to Profile → Contact Information, enter your new email address, and click Save Changes. You'll receive a confirmation email at both addresses to verify the change.
Your ORCID iD is a persistent digital identifier for researchers. Adding it to your profile links your review activity to your broader academic record and is increasingly required by funding bodies and publishers. You can find your ORCID (or register for one) at orcid.org.
Yes. Go to Profile and select Delete Account from the sidebar. This action is permanent and will remove all your review history and co-authorship progress. If you're having a specific issue, please reach out using the form below — we'd love to help.