Correspondence to

BMJ Open Respiratory Research is now entering its second year as an open access journal. Our aim when the journal was launched was to facilitate the rapid publication of high-quality research from all areas of respiratory medicine including respiratory science and critical care.1 As an open access periodical, we have the opportunity to limit publication bias by pub-lishing studies that other journals may not favour due to a perceived lack of importance or impact. Our aspiration has been to focus on well-conducted studies that acknowledge and discuss potential limitations when they exist. Unfortunately, too many small-scale, prelimin-ary, negative, repeat or observational studies, which could usefully contribute to the research landscape, fail to reach publication. Quality would be maintained by combining rigorous peer review with open access. We are delighted with the breadth and excellence of the published manuscripts that comprise the first volume of BMJ Open Respiratory Research and hope that this continues. One objective for the journal was that we would have a first decision for the majority of manuscripts within 30 days. Our average of 35 days to first decision approaches this; however, this figure is favour-ably distorted by the minority of manuscripts rejected without review. The reality with any new journal is that it is often challenging to obtain peer review within narrow timelines when this represents an additional burden on individuals ’ existing academic or clinical com-mitments. To this end, we appreciate the efforts of all those individuals who have reviewed manuscript