Advertisement Search Menu Who we are Open access Advancing peer review Standards and affiliations Policies Access to articles Advertising policy Permanency of articles Open Data Reprints and permissions License agreement Charter Receiving email For Editors Institutional support Partnerships and societies Publication costs and funding OA funding and policy support Advertising and sponsorship Press center Additional services News and events Careers Support and Contact Policies Our corporate policies ensure that both your personal details and research are in safe hands. Find out more details from the menu. See our policies on: Access to articles - what open access means Advertising policy - please read before looking to advertise with us Permanency of articles - how your research will always be free to access Open data - use of data published in our journals Reprints and permissions - applicable to research articles and data License agreement - with BMC and more about Creative Commons licenses BMC open access charter Receiving email - help setting up email clients to ensure email delivery If you are looking for our editorial policies, you can find them here. Advertisement Read more on our blogs Receive BMC newsletters Manage article alerts Language editing for authors Scientific editing for authors Policies Accessibility Press center Support and Contact Leave feedback Careers Follow BMC By using this website, you agree to our Terms and Conditions, California Privacy Statement, Privacy statement and Cookies policy. Manage cookies/Do not sell my data we use in the preference centre. © 2021 BioMed Central Ltd unless otherwise stated. Part of Springer Nature. Your privacy We use cookies to make sure that our website works properly, as well as some "optional" cookies to personalise content and advertising, provide social media features and analyse how people use our site. By accepting some or all optional cookies you give consent to the processing of your personal data, including transfer to third parties, some in countries outside of the European Economic Area that do not offer the same data protection standards as the country where you live. You can decide which optional cookies to accept by clicking on "Manage Settings", where you can also find more information about how your personal data is processed.View our privacy policy Manage Settings Accept All Cookies