The Editorial Board Member (EBM) of the month initiative, a series of interviews with selected EBMs took place between May 2021 and April 2022 in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. One of the questions of the interview was:‘ ’What is one piece of advice you would give to prospective authors as an EBM overseeing peer review?“ Below are some of the insightful responses of the EBMs (edited for conciseness) that we hope all authors will benefit from.