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Buddhika Wijerathne (left) and Geetha Rathnayake (right) have published two papers with F1000Research, so it was time to find out what made them return to us.

Your most recent F1000Research paper covered the relationship between handedness and digital dermatoglyphic patterns. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Buddhika Wijerathne: Our paper describes the association of dermatoglyphics (the scientific study of fingerprints) and handedness among Sinhalese males and females . Despite the small sample size, results of the study shows significant association, pointing toward the possibility of utilizing the relationship in forensic sciences by means of individual identification.

How have you experienced publishing with F1000Research?

We thought up our own definition for F1000Research: “1000 times Faster publication of Research”. Since submission, it has taken only a few days to publish our article online. Even though F1000Research is a very new enterprise, the experience we had was outstanding. The communication and feedback from the staff were excellent. The editing and graphic quality of the paper were exceptional.

I have submitted a few other research articles to leading journals during the same period I have submitted these papers. My F1000Research articles were the first to be indexed and others are still under review.

What did you think of the post-publication peer review process?

Usually, “peer review” are the most irritating words to come to mind when you’re thinking of publishing an article. Many journals have double or single blind peer review, and after an article is submitted there will be a month of waiting, and at the end the outcome is a negative comment most of the time. In this scenario, only the journal editor knows that the reviewer is an expert in the relevant subject area. It is blind to authors and readers, and both the researcher and the reader are eager to know who the reviewer is.

Any science should be discussed openly. Usually, studies have been conducted for the purpose of filling a knowledge gaps in science or to make new discoveries to improve the science. Early publication of an important finding of a research is vital.

In the open post-publication peer review process that F1000Research uses, the reviewer also receives an acknowledgment for the contribution made by them to the scientific publication.

According to my experience, F1000Research is the fastest post-publication peer review platform. After submission of our paper it took less than a week to go online. Version 1 of our paper received a first referee report within 2 weeks after publication. Version 2 received a referee report within the first 24 hours.