If your required MeSH descriptor is not available in the keyword list please contact the editorial office who will arrange for it to be added. You can start to type in a term and select from a list of suggested matches or search the full list of keywords.

MeSH Browser – search for related terms and descriptors using an existing list of keywords.

MeSH on Demand – input text from an abstract to automatically identify related terms.

MeSH provides two tools to help authors select MeSH descriptors as keywords: We ask authors to use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) descriptors as keywords to optimise discoverability. They also help editors to identify peer reviewers for your manuscript. Keywords are important for search engine optimisation and enhance the discoverability of your work and its impact. Keywords are specific terms that define what your paper is about.

This is excluded for the journal BMJ Quality and Safety which operates triple-anonymised peer review.

Word count, excluding title page, abstract, references, figures and tables.

Full name, department, institution, city and country of all co-authors.

Full name, postal address and e-mail of the corresponding author.

The title page must contain the following information: You can also refer to our formatting checklist to make sure you have covered everything on submission.

Contact details for the editorial team are on the journal’s Contact Us page. If you are unable to find the answer to your question, our editorial team will be on hand to offer assistance throughout the submission process. If you are looking to submit to The BMJ, please visit this section.

You can browse the titles on our Journals website. These are general formatting guidelines across BMJ, please always refer to journal-specific instructions for authors for article type specifications.

What is an endnote peer review