Reseapro: Editorial manager

Reviewer’s Guide

1. Before you begin

Before you accept or decline an invitation to review, consider the following questions:

Does the article match your area of expertise? Only accept if you feel you can provide a high-quality review.
Do you have a potential conflict of interest? Disclose this to the editor when you respond.
Do you have time? Reviewing can be a lot of work – before you commit, make sure you can meet the deadline.

Respond to the invitation as soon as you can (even if it is to decline) – a delay in your decision slows down the review process and means more waiting for the author. If you do decline the invitation, it would be helpful if you could provide suggestions for alternative reviewers.

2. Managing your review

If you accept, you must treat the materials you receive as confidential documents. This means you can’t share them with anyone without prior authorization from the editor. Since peer review is confidential, you also must not share information about the review with anyone without permission from the editors and authors.

You might find it helpful to consider the below points before preparing your comments to the editor/author(s):

Research article

Examine the importance of the research question addressed in the manuscript (e.g., are objectives and justification clearly stated?).
Assess the originality (contribution, addition of knowledge to scientific literature or field) of the manuscript.
Clearly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the method described in the manuscript.
Make specific useful comments on the writing of the manuscript (e.g., writing, organization, figures, etc.).
Offer specific comments on the author’s interpretation of the results and conclusions drawn from the results.
In case applicable, comment on the statistics (for example question if they are robust and fit-for-purpose and if the controls and sampling mechanisms are sufficient and well described).