Reviewer Guidelines

1. General responsibilities

  • Treat the manuscript as strictly confidential and do not share it without the editor's permission.
  • Give an unbiased, objective review under the double-blind model.
  • Complete the review within the agreed time. The journal aims for 12 to 14 weeks from submission to first decision.
  • Disclose any conflict of interest and decline to review where one exists.

Reviewers are expected to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

2. Use of AI tools during review

Do not upload any part of a manuscript to a public generative AI tool. Doing so exposes unpublished work to third-party systems. See the Generative AI (GenAI) Policy.

3. Review process

First consider whether the manuscript fits the journal's scope. Then assess its originality, the rigour of its methods, its clarity, its contribution to the field, and its ethical compliance.

4. The review report

  • A short summary of the manuscript
  • Its main strengths and weaknesses
  • Numbered specific comments, separated into major and minor issues
  • A recommendation: accept, minor revision, major revision or reject

5. Ethical concerns

Tell the editor if you suspect plagiarism, duplicate submission, or problems with the integrity of data or images.

6. Tone and professionalism

Write respectfully and constructively. Criticise the work, never the authors.

7. Supporting material

Check supplementary data, figures, tables and references.

8. Contact with the editorial office

Raise any concern or question with the editorial office, not with the authors.

9. After the review

Your duty of confidentiality continues after the review is finished.