From Submission to Structured XML: Streamlining Editorial Efficiencies at The BMJ

BMJ Group has long been a leader in medical publishing, known for rigorous peer review, global reach, and trusted reputation built on exceptional publishing expertise. The BMJ is ranked among the top medical journals globally and is valued for its editorial integrity and innovation.

DCL recently announced that The BMJ has implemented Content Crystallizer, a solution designed to transform manuscripts from Word documents into structured XML through a configurable, automated, and human-guided process.

Our world-renowned editorial standards underpin the knowledge we publish, and working with a partner like DCL allows us to scale workflows while maintaining the quality our research community expects.” - James Ross, Acting Managing Editor at The BMJ.

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The Challenge Every Publisher Recognizes

No doubt, today’s scholarly publishing workflows are complicated. Between submission systems, peer review platforms, production tools, and dissemination requirements, content travels a fragmented path before it’s ready for publication. For large medical journals, complexity is magnified by

• volume of submissions

• formatting quirks

• intricate author guidelines

• publisher style requirements

• and other nuances

Maintaining consistency and accuracy across manuscripts consumes valuable editorial and production time. Journal publishers no longer view XML conversion and editorial preparation as back-office chores, but as strategic levers for efficiency, quality, and sustainability.

Content Crystallizer automates the tedious parts of document preparation and structure validation while keeping editors firmly in control of the content itself.

What Makes Content Crystallizer Different

At its core, Content Crystallizer is not a “black box” conversion engine. It’s a configurable workflow platform that combines automation with editorial intelligence. The system takes a Word manuscript and guides it through three key stages:

1. Automated Document Preparation: The process begins with intelligent clean-up: applying consistent styling, detecting and tagging references, normalizing tables and figures, and identifying structural inconsistencies. It’s not just a find-and-replace routine; rather, it’s a rules-based normalization solution that reflects a journal’s unique editorial standards.

2. Editorial Review: Editors review the normalized Word manuscript within their familiar environment. They can accept, adjust, or override the automated tagging and structure, ensuring human oversight remains central. This hybrid approach eliminates repetitive formatting tasks while maintaining editorial authority.

3. Automated Conversion to XML: Once the manuscript is approved by an editor, it’s automatically converted to JATS XML (or a journal-specific schema if required) with full validation and error reporting. Because the process is configurable, it aligns precisely with a publisher’s downstream systems and metadata requirements.

   
   

The result is a clean, production-ready XML file that moves seamlessly into hosting, indexing, and archiving systems without weeks of manual intervention or external vendor cycles.

Editorial Efficiency as a Strategic Imperative

The term editorial efficiency comes up constantly but it’s often conflated with speed. What journal publishers really want is efficiency with control:

• faster throughput

• fewer errors

• better author and reader experiences

• editorial precision

This is exactly the precision and value that Content Crystallizer delivers. Because it’s configurable, publishers can preserve the nuances of their editorial identity while gaining measurable time and cost savings:

• tagging rules

• citation formatting

• specific structure

Instead of focusing on formatting compliance or document cleanup, editorial staff can focus on content quality, policy alignment, and scientific rigor.

The value of Content Crystallizer for The BMJ is that we’ve automated multiple editorial tasks and checks, as well as created lookups of third-party data from sources like Crossref and PubMed—all customized to The BMJ’s specific requirements. Yet the solution includes human-in-the-loop review, which is proving to be the winning approach for research integrity and editorial excellence. - David Turner, Director of Publishing Automation, Digital Transformation, and Content Technologies at DCL

The DCL Gold Standard

DCL is known for its impeccable commitment to quality. With Content Crystallizer, DCL demonstrates that efficiency and excellence are not mutually exclusive. With the right balance of automation and editorial expertise, it’s possible to produce structured, interoperable, and impeccably edited content at scale.

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