Peer Review Policy for Journal of Structural Biology
Peer Review Policy for the Journal of Structural Biology
The practice of peer review is to ensure that good science is published. It is an objective process at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out on all reputable scientific journals. Our referees therefore play a vital role in maintaining the high standards of the Journal of Structural Biology and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.
Manuscripts solicited for Special Issues and other invited material are subject to essentially the same peer review procedures as regular submissions except that, in most cases, they are handled in the first instance by Guest Editors.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editors-in-Chief first evaluate all manuscripts. It is rare but entirely feasible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Papers may also be rejected at this stage. The most common grounds for editorial rejection are that a paper is outside the aims and scope of the journal. Papers deemed suitable for reviewing are passed to an associate editor who coordinates review by up to three experts in the field. The Editors-in Chief also act as handling editors and may coordinate the review personally.
Authors of manuscripts rejected at this stage will be informed within 2 weeks of receipt.
Type of Peer Review
This journal employs blind review, whereby the referees remain anonymous throughout the process.
How the referee is selected
Referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise. Our database is constantly being updated. We welcome suggestions for referees from the author although these recommendations may or may not be used.
Referee reports
Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript : • Is original • Is methodologically sound • Has substantive results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions • Correctly references previous relevant work • Follows appropriate ethical guidelines
Referees are not expected to correct or copy-edit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer review process. If a paper is judged to be scientifically sound but inadequately presented, it may be accepted subject to the contributor agreeing to have the paper professionally copy-edited at his/her expense. JSB maintains a list of well qualified providers of this service.
How long does the review process take?
Typically the manuscript will be reviewed within 6 weeks: the targeted turn-round time is 4 weeks. Should the referees' reports contradict one another or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. In such cases, the review process will take longer but the journal makes every effort to minimize delay. All our referees sign a conflict of interest statement. At the discretion of the handling Editor, revised manuscripts are returned, usually within 1 week of receipt, to initial referees for further evaluation. Referees may request more than one revision of a manuscript.
Final report
A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees.
Editor's Decision is final
Referees advise the handling Editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article. With papers for Special Issues, the Guest Editor's recommendation is forwarded to the Editors-in-Chief for approval.
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