Review model
Double-anonymous peer review: reviewers do not know who the authors are, and authors do not know who the reviewers are.
From submission to publication
- Technical checkwithin 5 working days
The editorial office checks scope, formatting, anonymisation, ethics approval, declarations and similarity. - Editor assessmentabout 1 week
The Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor decides whether the paper goes to review or is declined without review. - Peer review3 to 4 weeks
At least two independent experts score the paper on relevance, originality, methods, ethics, clarity, evidence and literature, and write comments for the authors. - Decisionafter the reviews
Accept, minor revision, major revision (with a second full round of review) or reject. The editor explains the decision in a letter, not only by forwarding reports. - Production2 to 3 weeks after acceptance
Copyediting, typesetting and proofs, which the corresponding author approves before publication.
Our targets
- First decision within about 6 weeks of submission
- Publication within about 3 weeks of acceptance
Possible decisions
- Accept as is
- Accept with minor revisions
- Major revisions, re-reviewed
- Reject
For reviewers
Reviewers are invited by email and can accept or decline with one click. The review form asks for scores on each criterion, comments for the authors and confidential comments for the editor. Reviews are kept confidential, and reviewers must declare any conflict of interest and must not use unpublished material for their own work.