Sara Schroter

Sara is a social scientist responsible for setting up and running the research programme for BMJ as part of a strategy to take the lead in improving the publishing of science and being an "evidence based publisher." Sara has conducted and published numerous studies on peer review, conflicts of interest, authorship, publication ethics and other aspects of the publishing process. Sara is also an Honorary Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she undertook her PhD.

Competing interests

I declare that that I have read and understood BMJ policy on declarations of interest. I hereby declare the following interests, according to the policy.

© I have the following interests to declare:

Personal

I have received payment for research consultancy (psychometric analysis) from the Department of Health.

My travel and accommodation expenses were paid for by the meeting and conference organisers for: a meeting of the MIROR (Methods in Research on Research) initiative in Barcelona 2019 and the 2nd PEERE international Conference on Peer Review in Valencia 2020.

Organisational

Research papers that I submit to The BMJ undergo assessment and peer review by our external advisers. No members of The BMJ's staff are involved in the decision making on these papers and
this is stated in the competing interests section of the papers. When I submit papers for publication about the publishing process and peer review to other journals published by BMJ, I declare that I am employed by The BMJ. I regularly collaborate with external researchers at various universities who may have received research grants.

Unpaid positions (current)

I have been an honorary lecturer / assistant professor in the Faculty of Public Health & Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) since I left full time employment with them in 2001. While many of my colleagues at LSHTM submit articles to The BMJ, I am not involved in making decisions on what gets published in the journal.