Reviewers play a vital role in the publication process with a wide range of responsibilities. Our journal has developed some reviewer guidelines to support you at each stage of the process.
Before begin the review
- Only agree to review manuscripts for which you have the subject expertise required to carry out a proper assessment in a timely manner.
- Reviewing can be a lot of work – before you commit, make sure that you can meet the deadline.
- Respond to the invitation as promptly as possible, as any delay in your decision slows down the review process and leads to prolonged waiting for the author.
During Review
- Respect the confidentiality of peer review and not reveal any details of a manuscript or its review, during or after the peer-review process.
- Do Not use information obtained during the peer-review process for your own or any other person’s or organization’s advantage or to disadvantage or discredit others
- Respond in a reasonable time-frame, especially if you cannot do the review, and without intentional delay.
- Inform the journal promptly if you require an extension for completion of the review. You can make the communication via our email id smsjbm@cusat.ac.in.
- Follow journals’ policies on situations you consider to represent a conflict to reviewing.
- Not involve anyone else in the review of a manuscript, including junior researchers you are mentoring, without obtaining prior permission from the journal.
- Notify the journal immediately if you come across any irregularities, have concerns about ethical aspects of the work, and are aware of substantial similarity between the manuscript and a concurrent submission to another journal or a published article.
- Not intentionally prolong the review process, either by delaying the submission of their review or by requesting unnecessary additional information from the journal or author.
- Be objective and constructive in your reviews and provide feedback that will help the authors to improve their manuscript.
- Be specific in your criticisms, and provide evidence with appropriate references to substantiate your statements
- When you make a recommendation, it is worth considering the categories as: Reject (explain your reasoning in your report), Accept without revision and Revise – either major or minor. If you are recommending a revision, you must furnish the author with a clear, sound explanation of why this is necessary. However, the editor ultimately decides whether to accept or reject the article.
Post Review
- Continue to keep details of the manuscript and its review confidential.
- Respond promptly if contacted by a journal about matters related to their review of a manuscript and provide the information required.
- Try to accommodate requests from journals to review revisions or re-submissions of manuscripts you have reviewed.