Introduction

The review process is a very crucial step in the publication process of an article. All submitted manuscripts undergo a peer-review process; articles will be reviewed for scope, originality, quality, relevance, and impact. It enables the author(s) to enhance and improve their manuscript and also helps editors make decisions on the article. 

Reviewers are expected to accept manuscripts that are within their area of expertise and should be willing to dedicate appropriate time to conduct a critical review of the manuscript. Reviewers should most importantly adhere to the following guidelines:

Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest as defined by COPE "Conflicts of interest comprise those which may not be fully apparent and which may influence the judgment of author, reviewers, and editors. They have been described as those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived. They may be personal, commercial, political, academic or financial.

“Reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer-review process if a conflict exists”. ICMJE

Confidentiality

Confidentiality means that the reviewers and editors do not disclose any information about the manuscript or the review process to anyone outside the editorial team. Manuscripts are intellectual and confidential materials given to a reviewer in trust for the sole purpose of critical evaluation. Reviewers must not share manuscripts or discuss their content with anyone during and after the review process.

Fairness

Reviews should be fair, objective, honest and void of derogatory personal comments.

Reviewers should not be influenced by:

• The origin of the manuscript

• Religious, political or cultural viewpoint of the author

• Gender, race, ethnicity or citizenry of the author

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is “When somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were his/her own and without proper acknowledgment.” Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Reviewers should not use information obtained during the peer-review process for their own or any other person’s or organization’s advantage or to disadvantage or discredit others.

Timeliness

Reviewers should only accept manuscripts they are willing to dedicate time to reviewing. Thus, reviewers should review and return manuscripts within the time frame stipulated by the handling editor.

Review Reports

When evaluating the quality of a manuscript in your peer review report, several aspects are rated, namely:

• Originality

• Scope of the journal

• Contribution to the field

• Scientific soundness

• Technical quality

• Clarity of presentation

• Depth of research

• English level

Recommendations

Reviewers’ recommendation should be either:

• Accept

• Requires minor corrections

• Requires moderate revision

• Requires major revision

• Not suitable for the journal. Submit to another journal such as (suggest a journal)

• Reject

Reviewer Recognition

We offer reviewer certificates which are available upon request.

The reviewers' recommendations should be based on facts and constructive arguments about the manuscript's content.