Peer review is the foundation of quality in research for both books and journals, ensuring that published research is rigorous and ethical. Refereeing is an essential component of peer-reviewed scientific publishing. It can improve the quality of a paper significantly and contributes to advancing science as a whole, even when the decision to publish is negative. Peer reviewers can access a number of resources to assist them with their peer reviewing duties:
- How to peer review journal articles: a practical introduction to conducting peer reviews, especially for those who are new to the process
- Ethics in peer review
The overarching policy of IJA is that research articles should contain sufficient information to allow others to understand, replicate and verify findings, and compare them with alternative studies. It is the policy of IJA that referees’ reports are communicated to authors anonymously. While in most cases there is no harm in referees identifying themselves, anonymity avoids conflicts of hierarchy and can allow an editor to mediate difficult cases focusing on scientific issues while avoiding conflicts of personality. Your report should be reasoned and reasonable, focusing on scientific and scholarly issues.
The journal aims to provide authors with a first decision after article submission as quickly as possible with a rapid review process. All articles undergo initial screening by the Editor-in-Chief before assignment to an appropriate Associate Editor. The paper is typically assigned at least two reviewers. The Associate Editor will provide a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief who, based on the reviewer reports and the recommendation, will then provide a final decision. All papers will undergo this standard process – although Review articles are expected to take longer in peer review.
IJA asks that reviewers provide their feedback within 3 weeks. If a reviewer has a competing interest with the manuscript, they must declare this to either the Associate Editor who has contacted them to ask for a review, or the Editorial Office.
This journal uses ScholarOne for online submission and peer review. ScholarOne is a “comprehensive workflow-management system for scholarly journals, books and conferences”. Further information on ScholarOne can be found here, and queries can be directed to the Editorial Office.