Guidelines for Reviewers

Reviewer Responsibilities

1. Conflict of Interest. Declare any conflict of interest and decline the invitation where objectivity may be compromised.

2. Confidentiality. Treat the manuscript as a strictly confidential document - it must not be shared, discussed with third parties, or uploaded to generative AI tools (see the journal's AI Policy).

3. Objective Assessment. Provide an objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessment of the originality, methodology, results, and conclusions of the work within the agreed time.

4. Ethical and Research Concerns. Alert the editor to any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data problems, or ethical concerns.

5. No Personal Use. Do not use material from the manuscript for their own advantage before publication.

Double-Anonymous Review: Reviews are conducted double-anonymously. Reviewers should avoid comments or self-citations that could reveal their identity.

Researchers interested in joining the reviewer panel may apply via the Join Us page.

Recognition for Reviewers

Certificate of Reviewing. A numbered certificate is automatically emailed to the reviewer after each completed review.

Web of Science Reviewer Recognition. To claim credit for a completed review, simply forward the certificate email you receive from the journal to reviews@webofscience.com . After verification, the review is added to your Web of Science researcher profile (formerly Publons) without disclosing confidential review content. Editors may likewise forward editorial decision emails to the same address to record their handling-editor contributions.

ORCID. Reviewers are encouraged to register their ORCID iD in their user profile on this site so that their reviewing activity can be linked to their ORCID record.

APC Waivers. Reviewers who complete five review reports earn a 50% discount on the article processing charge, and ten completed reports earn a full waiver - see the Article Processing Charge page for the full policy.