Peer Review Process

This is the standard timeline for a journal's peer review process, from initial submission to the author's revision.

Here's a breakdown of each stage:

  • Initial editorial decision: 10 business days
    • This is the time it takes for the journal's editorial office (or a handling editor) to perform an initial assessment of the submitted manuscript.
    • They check if the manuscript fits the journal's scope, meets basic quality standards, formatting requirements, and originality checks.
    • At this stage, a manuscript might be sent out for full peer review, or it could be "desk rejected" (rejected without being sent to external reviewers) if it's clearly unsuitable.
  • Reviewer invitation and acceptance: 5 business days
    • If the manuscript passes the initial editorial decision, the editor identifies suitable experts (peer reviewers) to evaluate it.
    • This period covers the time spent inviting those reviewers and for them to respond (either accepting or declining the invitation).
    • Note: While 5 days is the target for an invitation round, if multiple reviewers decline, the process of finding and securing enough reviewers can take longer.
  • Peer review completion: 30 business days
    • Once the required number of reviewers have accepted, this is the time allocated for them to thoroughly read the manuscript, assess its methodology, results, discussion, and conclusions, and write their detailed reports.
    • 30 business days is approximately 6 calendar weeks.
  • Editorial decision communication: 5 business days
    • After all reviewer reports are received, the handling editor evaluates them, synthesizes the feedback, and makes a final decision on the manuscript (e.g., accept, minor revisions, major revisions, reject).
    • This period covers the time taken to formulate the decision letter, which typically includes the anonymized reviewer comments and the editor's specific instructions, and send it to the authors.
  • Author revision period: 60 days
    • If the manuscript is not rejected, authors are usually given a period to revise their work based on the feedback from the reviewers and editor.
    • 60 calendar days (approximately two months) is a common timeframe, allowing authors sufficient time to address substantive comments, conduct further analysis if needed, and prepare a detailed response to reviewers.