The Peer Review Process

Reviwers evaluate and make recommendations

Submission is accepted for publication

editor Decision point

SubmissionRejected

editor Decision point

Author Submission

The Peer Review Process

SubmissionRejected

Author Resubmission

Editor requests revisions

Click here to begin the peer review process

Editor Requests Revisions

The editor may choose to ask the author to revise their submission and resubmit it after changes are made. These changes may be major or minor.

Author Submission

An author prepares and submits a manuscript to a journal where it will be looked at by an editor.While manuscripts used to be sent through the mail, today potential articles are submitted electronically.

Submission Accepted

Even after a submssion is accepted, there is more to be done! Articles must still be copyedited and formatted before publication.

• Reject the submission and relay this decision to the author
• Send the article to a group of reviewers for their recommendation

Editor Decision Point

When an editor receives a submission, he can make one of two decisions:

Cllck on the shapes to move through the peer review process

• Reject the submission and relay this decision to the author
• Ask the author to make revisions and submit the article again
• Accept the article for publication

Editor Decision Point

After the editor receives the recommendations from the reviewers, he can make one of two decisions:

There may be mutltiple rounds of peer review before a submission is accepted for publication.

• Whether the research methods are sound and the findings reliable
• If the submission is novel or important in its field of stuidy
• Whether there are bias or ethical issues that need to be resolved
• The quality of the writing and presentation of the submission

Reviewers Evaluate and Make Recommendations

A reviewer or group of reviewers ealuate the submission. These individuals would be experts in the same field of study as the author which is why it is called "'peer" review. Sometimes the reviewers are called referees and the article a "refereed article" instead of a "peer-reviewd" article. The reviewers will look at:

The reviewers then send recommendations to the editor. Those recommendations could be to publish the article with major or minor revisions, or to reject the article.