Peer Review Process
All articles published in PJDC undergo peer review. This involves a double blind review by at least two independent, expert peer reviewers. In double-blind peer review, identities of neither authors nor peer reviewers are disclosed. The primary purpose of peer review is to help the editor reach a fair, evidence-based decision that adheres to the journal’s editorial criteria. Review reports also help authors revise their paper so that it may be accepted for publication.
Initial Evaluation
Initial Evaluation
All articles published in PJDC undergo peer review. This involves a double blind review by at least two independent, expert peer reviewers. In double-blind peer review, identities of neither authors nor peer reviewers are disclosed. The primary purpose of peer review is to help the editor reach a fair, evidence-based decision that adheres to the journal’s editorial criteria. Review reports also help authors revise their paper so that it may be accepted for publication.
Reviewer Assignment and Review
The Editor or associate editors will assign at least two reviewers for the manuscript. The selection of the peer reviewer is based on expertise, reputation, specific recommendations, conflict of interest, and previous performance.
In some exceptional instances, particularly if the article’s topic is in an emerging field, it may not be possible to obtain two independent peer reviewers. In such cases, the Editor may decide to publish based on one peer review report, or the Editor (or associate editors) may act as a second reviewer, provided that the Editor must have sufficient knowledge in the area if acting as a second reviewer. Where an Editor is on the author list or has other competing interests regarding a specific manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to oversee the peer review.
Institutional email addresses should be used to invite peer reviewers wherever possible. Potential peer reviewers will be asked to certify the absence of any possible conflicts of interest before accepting an invitation to review. The author may be asked to suggest potential reviewers or to request that some be excluded from consideration. Editors will consider these requests but are not obliged to fulfill them. The Editor’s decision on the choice of peer reviewers is final.
The assigned peer reviewers will be invited. If the reviewer accepts the invitation, they will be sent the manuscript with all author/s’ identification removed and the reviewer’s comment form (Figure 1). The reviewers will be requested to return their review in 30 days. To review PJDC manuscripts, we ask our reviewers to indicate answers to answer the following checklist in providing an assessment of the various aspects of a manuscript.
If they refuse the invitation, they will be asked to suggest someone similarly capable of reviewing it. Authors will also be asked to suggest reviewers for their manuscripts, who will be vetted to ensure that they are well-published in the field and do not have a conflict of interest.
Reviewer Assignment and Review
The editor or associate editors will assign at least two reviewers for the manuscript. The selection of the peer reviewer is based on expertise, reputation, specific recommendations, conflict of interest, and previous performance.
In some exceptional instances, particularly if the topic of the article is in an emerging field, it may not be possible to obtain two independent peer reviewers. In such cases, the editor may make a decision to publish based on one peer review report or the editor (or associate editors) may act as a second reviewer, provided that the editor must have a sufficient amount of knowledge in the area if acting as a second reviewer. Where an Editor is on the author list or has any other competing interest regarding a specific manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to oversee peer review.
Institutional email addresses should be used to invite peer reviewers wherever possible. Potential peer reviewers will be asked to certify the absence of any possible conflicts of interest before accepting an invitation to review. The author may be asked to suggest potential reviewers, or to request that some be excluded from consideration. Editors will consider these requests, but are not obliged to fulfill them. The editor’s decision on the choice of peer reviewers is final.
The assigned peer reviewers will be invited. If the reviewer accepts the invitation, they will be sent the manuscript with all authors identification removed and the reviewer’s comment form (Figure 1). The reviewers will be requested to return their review in 30 days. To review PJDC manuscripts, we ask our reviewers to indicate answers to answer the following checklist in providing an assessment of the various aspects of a manuscript.
If they refuse the invitation, they will be asked to suggest some who is similarly capable of reviewing. Authors will also be asked to suggest reviewers for their manuscript; who will be vetted to ensure that they are well-published in the field and do not have conflict of interest.
Revision and Decision
Once reviews of the manuscript are received from the reviewer, the comments will be transferred to the Author Response Sheet to ensure that reviewer information is not shared with the author. The Editor may remove any inappropriate language from the reviewers’ report.
This will be sent to the author, who will be given 15–30 days to revise the paper following the reviewers’ comments. The length of time given to the author will depend on the reviewers’ evaluation (i.e., 30 days for a major revision or 15 days for a minor revision). In recommendations for resubmission of the manuscript, authors will not be given a timeframe. Rejected papers will be accompanied by an explanation of the major weaknesses of the article to help the authors prepare their manuscripts for submission to a different journal.
The revised manuscript the author submits will be forwarded to the reviewer for final evaluation. The reviewer will be asked to assess the paper for publishability in the journal. The Editor will finally decide whether the article will be published. The volume and issue will be assigned for published articles, and the author will be informed. For rejected articles, the author will be likewise informed.
Revision and Decision
Once reviews of the manuscript are received from the reviewer, the reviewer comments will be transferred to the Author Response Sheet (Figure 2) to ensure that reviewer information is not shared to the author. The editor may remove any inappropriate language from the reviewers’ report.
This will be sent to the author and the author will be given 15–30 days to revise the paper following the reviewers’ comments. The length of time given to the author will depend on the reviewer evaluation (i.e., 30 days for major revision or 15 days for minor revision). In recommendations for resubmission of the manuscript, authors will not be given a timeframe. Rejected papers will be accompanied by an explanation of the major weaknesses of the article to help the authors prepare their manuscript for submission to a different journal.
The revised manuscript that the author submits will be forward to the reviewer for the final evaluation. The reviewer will be asked to assess the paper for publishability in the journal. The Editor will then finally decide whether the article will be published or not. For published articles, the volume and issue the article will appear will be assigned and the author will be informed. For rejected articles the author will be likewise informed with.
Production - Copyediting and Layout
Once the decision that an article is to be published has been set, the article will undergo copyediting. The copyedited article will be sent to the authors for approval. The approved copyedited article will be typeset and laid out, and the laid-out article will be approved for online publication by the Editor. Once approved, the article will be uploaded to the PJDC website, with the article history indicated. The issue of the journal will be printed once all the articles in each issue are completed.
Production - Copyediting and Layout
Once the decision that an article is to be published has been set, the article will undergo copyediting. The copyedited article will be sent to the authors for approval. The approved copyedited article will be typeset and laid out. The laid out article will be approved for online publication by the Editor. Once approved, the article will be uploaded to the PJDC website, with the article history indicated. The issue of the journal will be printed once all the articles in each issue is completed.
