Review Process and Policies

• Once a manuscript is submitted, a preliminary screening is performed by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editors of the journal. The preliminary screening is to ensure that the submitted article fits the aims and scope of the journal, English standard, and technical requirements. Upon the preliminary screening, the Editor-in-Chief is permitted to take the following actions:
  • Send the manuscript for formal reviews.
  • Decline the manuscript because the paper is outside the scope of the journal.
  • Decline the manuscript because the English writing is substandard.
  • Decline the manuscript because the technical content is insufficient.
• Once the manuscript passes the preliminary screening, it will be sent for formal reviews. In the formal review process, the Editor-in-Chief may send the manuscript to an editorial board member (EBM) who invites internal or external reviewers. The reviewers provide detailed reviews to improve the manuscript. The EBM then makes an overall assessment for the manuscript based on at least two reviewers’ comments. Once the EBM submits the overall assessment and recommendation to the journal office, the Editor-in-Chief reviews the recommendation and makes a final decision on the manuscript. The decision can be one of the following:
  • Accept
  • Minor revisions
  • Major revisions
  • Decline
• Upon submitting a revised manuscript to the journal, authors are required to submit a response to the review comments. Authors need to satisfactorily address the review comments from all reviewers and make necessary revisions. The page and line numbers of the revisions should be indicated in the response. If authors do not agree with a review comment, they need to explain the rationale in the response. The revised manuscript can be rejected if the reviewers’ comments are not addressed satisfactorily.

Ethics

• Integrity: The journal prioritizes maintaining the highest level of integrity in all its published content.
• Conflict of Interest: The journal has a Conflict-of-Interest policy in place.
• COPE: The journal follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics ( COPE ) and investigates misconduct allegations to maintain research integrity. The journal might employ plagiarism detection software to check submissions. If plagiarism is detected, we will adhere to the ( COPE ) guidelines on plagiarism.
• Authorship: All authors listed on manuscripts must satisfy each of the four criteria outlined below, and anyone meeting these criteria must be included in the list of authors.
  • “Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.”

Changes to the author list after submitting a manuscript—like adding, removing, or reordering authors—require approval from all authors. The corresponding author must formally request and justify these changes on behalf of all co-authors. The journal can decide if the changes are appropriate. After publication, any disputes over authorship may result in corrections or retractions of papers, and the journal won't get involved in resolving such issues.