Peer review

All manuscripts submitted for publication undergo double-blind, external peer review. The journal is committed to providing its authors an efficient review process with “submission to first decision” time being less than three weeks and “submission to publication” time being about four to six weeks.

Peer review process

After a manuscript is submitted, it is reviewed by a member of the Editorial Board. If the manuscript passes the editorial review, the editor suggests the names of the reviewers to whom the manuscript can be sent for double-blind peer review.

In the double-blind peer review process neither the reviewers nor the authors know the identity of each other. This enables an unbiased and accurate review of the manuscript.

Reviewer selection

The reviewers are selected on the basis of their area of expertise and interests, their reputation and our past experience with the reviewers. The reviewers are sent an invitation to review the manuscript. If the reviewer accepts the offer to review the manuscript, they are sent the complete manuscript and a Manuscript Review Form.

Reviewer’s conflict of interest

In all cases, reviewers are asked to declare any conflict of interest based on the contents of the manuscript. If a conflict of interest exists, the reviewers are requested to decline to review the manuscript.

Peer review time

We strive to provide authors with an efficient review process with “submission to first decision” time being less than three weeks. We request the reviewers to help us in reducing the decision time as much as possible by providing the reviews on time. It is very frustrating for authors to wait for months or years to receive reviewers’ comments for their manuscript. We request the reviewers to respond promptly to messages from Editorial Office and inform us if they are unavailable for any length of time.

Manuscript review form

When a manuscript is sent to the reviewers for evaluation it will be accompanied by a Manuscript Review Form. The reviewers are requested to use the form for reviewing the manuscript. Using a form will save time to review the manuscript and ensure a more structured and accurate review.

The Manuscript Review Form has two sections – ‘Comments for authors’ and ‘Confidential comments for Editors’. Anything written in the “Comments for authors” will be sent to the authors. The reviewers can use the section “Confidential comments for Editors” to send any confidential comments to the editors, which will not be transmitted to the authors.

Peer review expectations

Reviewers are expected to provide an objective critical assessment of the manuscript about the concept of the study, relevance in relation to current scientific knowledge, scientific content, language and grammar. Reviewers will be asked to make a recommendation for publishing the manuscript. Please provide reasons for the recommendations.

If the manuscript needs changes for improvement before it is accepted for publication, please make the suggestions on how to improve it. If the comments are negative please help the authors in improving their manuscript by explaining weaknesses in scientific content or language. We do not tolerate any offensive language in the comments. We may edit the reviewer’s comments for any errors in facts or language or to remove confidential information.

Decision on manuscript

Based on the reviewer’s comments the editor-in-chief will give a decision about the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

The Editor may decide to:

1) accept the manuscript without revisions,

2) invite authors to resubmit the manuscript after minor or major revisions while the final decision is kept pending, or

3) reject the manuscript.

When the manuscript review process is complete, reviewers’ and editor’s comments are sent back to the author with the editorial decision. If the authors are asked to resubmit the manuscript with changes and response to comments, we may send the revised manuscript and author’s responses to the reviewers for further review.

Peer review confidentiality

The review process is a confidential communication between the Reviewers, Editors, Editorial Staff and the Corresponding author. Please do not discuss any manuscript received for review, with anyone not directly involved in the review process.