Importance of the peer review process in scientific publications - proposed way of working for a new journal

Abstract

Typically, in scientific publications, peer review processes are used to maintain the quality standards of the research activity and its results presented in manuscripts submitted for publication, to improve performance, relevance and give them credibility. The peer review helps the publisher (editor-in-chief and editors, respectively the editorial board) decide whether the submissions should be accepted, considered acceptable with revisions (minor or major), or rejected. For many journals, all manuscripts submitted are subjected to a double-blind peer-review process, in which the authors and reviewers’ identities are kept secret from each other. The goal of double-blind peer review is for submitted papers to be judged on their scientific merit alone, and thus reducing publication bias (minimizing bias) and protecting identities. The double-blind peer-review model implies that the author's name and affiliation are not revealed to reviewers, and, in turn, the reviewers' name or any other information is never disclosed to the author or other reviewers of the manuscript. In order to ensure the quality of the publications, editors require that the reviewers have expert knowledge in their fields of research and have authored a substantial number of peer-reviewed publications. The selection of reviewers is the responsibility of the editor-in-chief, the editors and the editorial board, respectively.