Peer Review Process

 

All manuscripts are considered to be confidential and are reviewed by members of the Editorial Board, or qualified ad hoc reviewers. Each manuscript receives two simultaneous reviews. When a manuscript is submitted to the Editor-in- Chief, it is given a manuscript number and is assigned to one of the Associate Editors. Each reviewer makes a specific recommendation to the Associate Editor for the manuscript, based on the following aspects that are applicable: importance of the research, originality and novelty of the work, appropriateness of the approach and experimental design, soundness of conclusions and interpretations, relevance of discussion, clarity of presentation, organization of the article, and demonstration of reproducibility. The corresponding author is notified, an average of four weeks after submission, of the Associate Editor's decision to accept, reject, or require revision. When a manuscript is returned to the corresponding author for revision, it should be returned to the Associate Editor within three months; otherwise it may be considered withdrawn.