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Article Quality Tracking
Bentourkia M, Abdo RA. Updates on glioblastoma multiforme: From epidemiology to imaging and artificial intelligence. Artif Intell Med Imaging 2025; 6(2): 108032 [DOI: 10.35711/aimi.v6.i2.108032]
Reviewer's ID:
03211909
Submitted on:
September 03, 2025, 10:20
Peer-Review:
Anonymous
Reviewer's Country:
China
Conflicts-of-interest statement

Reviewers should recognize, acknowledge and disclose any potential conflict of interest that may include (but not be limited) to the following, and inform the editorial office immediately upon discovery of any conflict of interest, stopping if the article review process is underway.

Close personal and/or professional relationship with the author(s); submitted similar or competing manuscripts to BPG or other journals; studied together with the author(s) and/or has former student, resident, fellow, mentor or family relative relationship; and have had in last 5 years collaboration or common grants and/or publications or financial interest with the authors?
Criteria for Article Quality Tracking-Peer-Review

The mission of BPG is to comply with publishing ethics/standards established by the industry and to publish high quality articles. In addition, we strive to make a strict peer-review of each article submitted, and tracking the scientific quality of each is the mission of the editorial board members and/or peer-reviewers.

The following evaluation points are for editorial board members and/or peer-reviewers’ reference only in evaluating an article:

1 Ethics: Does the ethical approval form provided by the author meet the requirements?

2 Methods: Is the experimental method effective? Can it be repeated by fellow researchers (according to adequate textual/citation content presented)?

3 Results: Are the results true and authentic? Is the theory or hypothesis of universal significance validated or partially validated?

4 Figures and tables: Does the author provide perfect tables, line charts and/or graphs? Or, does the author provide figures and tables that are confusing, poorly constructed and/or not well-annotated?

5 Biostatistics: Does the author provide perfect biostatistics data? Or, does the author provide tables and line charts that have mistakes in the data?

6 References: Does the author scientifically and reasonably cite the latest references which are important in this field and related to the scientific problems and research hypotheses addressed in the study? Or, does the author self-cite, omit, mis-cite and/or over-cite references?

7 Language: Does the language in article correctly, clearly and concisely express the information? Or, does the article have multiple grammatical and spelling mistakes?

8 Caveats or drawbacks: What are the caveats or drawbacks for the results?

Comments to Authors
Please make a specific and meaningful evaluation on the objectivity, credibility and scientific quality of the article according to above listed criteria. Please identify which issues have been resolved by the author and which not, what problems still exist, and which method the author intends to adopt to solve the problem in the next step, etc. Your high quality conclusion will also be advantageous for the author’s efforts in conducting future research, will contribute to raising the reader’s interest, and will promote discipline development. Please fill in your detailed comments to authors at below:
Objectivity The article demonstrates strong objectivity by adopting a balanced "current status-issues" framework, without one-sidedly overstating research progress on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). It systematically outlines the application value of imaging technologies such as MRI (with T1-weighted contrast enhancement for visualizing tumor necrosis) and PET (with 18F-FET for distinguishing recurrence from radiation necrosis), while also clearly pointing out limitations like the poor soft tissue contrast of CT and the need for a nearby cyclotron for 11C-methylmethionine (11C-MET). When elaborating on the standard "surgery + radiotherapy + temozolomide (TMZ)" regimen, it simultaneously highlights the therapeutic bottleneck that the 5-year survival rate remains only 4.6%-5.6%. Literature screening covers multiple databases including MEDLINE, with studies up to February 2025 included in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, avoiding selective inclusion of positive results. It also maintains a neutral stance when discussing controversies in AI applications (e.g., low proficiency of doctors in operating AI tools) and does not shy away from technical flaws. Credibility The credibility is constrained by the peer review results (with scientific quality, innovation, and other indicators all rated Grade D), but there are still supporting elements. The authors are affiliated with the Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Canada; the corresponding author is a professor and contact information is provided. Literature citations are standardized, including DOI and PMID, and Tables 1-3 clearly summarize key data such as imaging tracers and chemotherapeutic drugs, with a reproducible PRISMA process. However, the single-blind review (involving only one expert from Japan) may lead to a limited perspective, and the article does not mention data replication and verification, which weakens part of its credibility. Scientific Quality As a review article, its scientific quality is moderate. Its strengths lie in a clear structure, progressing logically from "epidemiology-imaging-treatment-AI," with each conclusion supported by literature (e.g., citing Zheng et al.’s AI study using 40 million samples). It also compares the advantages and disadvantages of different imaging modalities and treatment regimens, providing references for clinical practice. Nevertheless, there are shortcomings: it fails to quantify key indicators (such as AI segmentation accuracy), describes research data on emerging nanodrugs and PARP inhibitors in a vague manner, and does not analyze diagnostic and therapeutic differences among different molecular subtypes (e.g., IDH-mutant GBM), resulting in insufficient scientific depth. Resolved Issues The article clarifies regional differences in GBM epidemiology, applicable scenarios of mainstream imaging and treatment regimens, and constructs an application framework for AI in GBM, providing systematic knowledge for beginners. It also identifies core bottlenecks such as the blood-brain barrier and difficulties in early detection, defining the research scope. Unresolved and Existing Issues It does not propose specific biomarkers for early detection (e.g., circulating tumor cells), fails to quantify data on the generalizability of AI models, provides ambiguous solutions for multi-center collaboration and data privacy protection, and does not discuss personalized diagnosis and treatment strategies for different molecular subtypes. Future Solutions The authors mention that future efforts should focus on strengthening structured validation and ethical oversight of AI. Specifically, multi-center collaboration can be conducted to establish a standardized imaging database and carry out prospective AI trials; subtype-specific treatment models can be developed by integrating genomic data; and early screening schemes combining "AI + biomarkers" can be explored to fill current research gaps.
Author Awards
1 Award aims: To praise the authors who have made outstanding contributions by publishing original and innovative Basic study, Clinical study, Case report and/or Review in any of the 43 open-access publications of BPG. Their publications represent meaningful contributions towards promoting the ability of readers to get the latest research results and towards the development of medical science. To thank such authors for their contributions, we have set up the ‘Baishideng Distinguished Award’ to track the quality of articles and award the corresponding authors.

2 Selection methods: Editorial board members will track the quality of the published articles in each issue, so that they can recognize excellent articles and categorize them for recommendation. Then, the annual Baishideng Distinguished Award winners will be selected according to the recommendation categories and the academic influence of the articles. The indexes for academic influence of the articles involves the number of citations, clicks and downloads the paper received.

3 Number of awards: Among articles published in the 43 journals of BPG, 12 total articles (3 Reviews, 3 Basic studies, 3 Clinical studies and 3 Case reports) will be recognized and their authors awarded.

4 Award amounts: The first prize will be 5000 USD. The second prize will be 3000 USD. The third prize will be 2000 USD. In addition, each winner will be presented an official certificate for their Baishideng Distinguished Award.

5 List of winners: The list of Baishideng Distinguished Award winners will be announced on the official BPG website.
Editorial board members and/or peer-reviewers should categorize articles according to the following recommendation categories, with consideration to results of the Track Article Quality assessment to identify excellent articles:
Reply from the Editorial Office:
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