The peer review process is a fundamental aspect of scholarly publishing. It serves as a quality control mechanism, ensuring that scientific articles meet certain standards of validity, significance, and originality before they are published in academic journals. Here's an overview of the typical peer review process:
- Submission: Authors must submit their manuscripts to scholarly journals for consideration for publication. The submission usually includes a cover letter, the manuscript itself, and any supplementary documents.
- Pre-peer review process: The Editorial office will check the quality of the submitted articles before sending those to peer review process, if the articles found plagiarism more than 20 % those will be sent for re writing.
- Editorial Assessment: Upon submission, the editor-in-chief or an associate editor evaluates the manuscript to determine if it meets the journal's scope and basic standards. This initial assessment may also check for adherence to formatting and ethical guidelines.
- Assignment of Reviewers: If the manuscript passes the initial assessment, the editor selects independent experts in the field, typically researchers or academics, to review the manuscript. These individuals are known as peer reviewers or referees.
- Peer Review: The selected reviewers go through the manuscripts carefully and provide detailed feedback on various aspects, including the novelty of the research, methodology, data analysis, interpretation of results, and clarity of writing. Reviewers may also assess the manuscript's significance to the field and its suitability for publication in the journal.
- Editor Decision: Based on the feedback from the peer reviewers, the editor makes a decision regarding the manuscript. Possible decisions include:
- Acceptance: The manuscript is accepted for publication without revisions or with minor revisions.
- Revision: The authors are asked to revise the manuscript in accordance with the reviewers comments and submit a revised version for further evaluation.
- Rejection: The manuscript is not accepted for publication due to significant flaws or lack of suitability for the journal.
- Revision and Resubmission: If the manuscript requires revisions, the authors address the reviewers comments and make appropriate changes to the manuscript. They may also provide a detailed response letter explaining how they addressed each comment.
- Final Decision: The revised manuscript, along with the authors' response letter (rebuttal form), is reviewed by the editor to ensure that the revisions adequately address the reviewers concerns. The editor then makes a final decision on whether to accept the manuscript for publication.
- Publication: Once accepted, the manuscript undergoes copyediting and formatting to prepare it for publication according to the journal format. It is then published in the journal online as per the journal's format.