Peer Review Policy on Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy
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 SAB and all manuscripts are peer reviewed following the procedure outlined below.
Special issues have the same peer review procedures involving, for example, Guest Editors, conference organizers or scientific committees.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editor first evaluates all manuscripts. It is rare, but it is entirely feasible for an exceptional manuscript to be accepted at this stage. Those rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, have poor grammar or English language, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to at least 2 experts for review.
Type of Peer Review
This journal employs single blind review, where the referee remains 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 authors though these recommendations may or may not be used.
Referee reports
Referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript: • Is original • Is methodologically sound • Follows appropriate ethical guidelines • Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions • Correctly references previous relevant work
Referees are not expected to correct or copyedit manuscripts. Language correction is not part of the peer review process.
How long does the review process take?
The reviewing process typically takes two months. All referees sign a conflict of interest statement. If the referee report is unnecessarily delayed, the editors will request another expert opinion. Should the referees' reports contradict one another, the editors may make a decision based upon their own evaluation of the manuscript or request a further expert opinion. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the initial referees for further evaluation. Based upon the additional input, the editors may request a second revision.
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, and may include verbatim comments by the referees.
Editor's Decision is final
Referees advise the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.
Becoming a Referee for SAB
If you are not currently a referee for SAB but would like to be added to the list of referees, please contact the editors.
