Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers
Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers
Objectivity
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Reviewers should be aware of any potential personal bias and take this into account when evaluating a manuscript. Reviewers must clearly state and justify the assessments supporting their decisions.
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and provides authors with an opportunity to improve their manuscripts. Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or who believe they will not be able to complete the review within the specified time should decline the review invitation.
Confidentiality
All manuscripts submitted to the journal for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share any information about the manuscript or their evaluations with others, nor should they contact the authors directly. Information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal research without the explicit written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal advantage.
Sensitivity to Research and Publication Ethics Violations
Reviewers should remain alert to potential ethical issues in the manuscript and report any suspected ethical violations to the editor.
Conflict of Interest
Reviewers should not agree to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
Requests for Citation
If a reviewer suggests that an author include citations to the reviewer’s own work (or that of their collaborators), this must be based solely on genuine scholarly relevance and not for the purpose of increasing citation counts or enhancing the visibility of the reviewer’s work. See also COPE guidelines.
Conducting the Review
Reviewer evaluations must be objective. During the peer review process, reviewers are expected to assess manuscripts by considering the following criteria:
- Does the manuscript present new and significant knowledge?
- Does the abstract clearly and accurately describe the content of the manuscript?
- Is the methodology clearly described and methodologically coherent?
- Are the interpretations and conclusions adequately supported by the findings?
- Are sufficient and appropriate references to relevant literature provided?
- Is the quality of language and academic expression adequate?
- Do the title, abstract, and keywords accurately reflect the content of the manuscript?
