The peer review process starts once you have submitted your paper to a journal. After submission, a strict peer-review process (double-blind peer review) will be conducted. Your paper will be sent for assessment by independent experts in your field. The reviewers are asked to judge the validity, significance, and originality of your work.

The process starts with an initial review by the editor-in-chief or co-editor-in-chief who makes an initial technical assessment of all submitted manuscripts for plagiarism and originality. Then an associate editor within the specialist field will be assigned to the manuscript. The associate editor of the journal will review the paper to ensure that the subject matter is in line with that of the journal and that it fits with the editorial platform. Editors are working with freedom and confidentiality. If the journal editors feel the paper sufficiently meets the journal’s standards, they will send the paper to external reviewers (a minimum of two independent expert reviewers) who are blinded to the author(s) to further assess the manuscript, recommend any revisions, and offer their opinion on acceptability.

Reviewers will be asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates already published work, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently clear for publication. Reviewers will also be asked to indicate how interesting and significant the research is. The Editors will reach a decision based on these reports.

The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles.

The duration for the first decision is 10-14 days, and for the final decision is one month on average. 

Figure: The path of the peer-review process in IJHS