The following guidelines are intended to make experts aware of their responsibilities as well as benefits of being reviewers for OAE journals and help them complete the assigned review work correctly and efficiently.
All manuscripts accepted by the journal would undergo rigorous and thorough single-blind peer review, which means that the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author(s). For more details about review process, please refer to Editorial Process.
Reviewers must comply with the ethical regulations as below; any misconduct in peer review will be investigated seriously.
Potential Conflicts of InterestReviewers must declare all potential conflicts of interest, which may prejudice the review report either in a positive or negative way. Reviewers should not agree to review a manuscript with any conflicts of interest with their own research. Conflicts of interest may be personal, financial, intellectual, professional, political or religious in nature. Reviewers are not allowed either to review a manuscript just to gain sight of it with no intention of submitting a review report, or agree to review a manuscript that is very similar to the one that the reviewer has in preparation or consideration at another journal.
ConfidentialityReviewers must keep all contents of the manuscript confidential and refrain from using information obtained during the peer review process for the advantage of their own or other individuals. They should not reveal their identity to the authors, either in their comments or in metadata for reports submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format.
Report MisconductReviewers should report to the journal editor in case they come across any potential research or publication misconduct, like plagiarism or breaches to research ethics, etc. It is appropriate to cooperate with the journal in confidence, but not to personally investigate further unless the journal asks for additional information or advice.
Unbiased CommentsIt is important for reviewers to remain unbiased regardless of the nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors, origins of a manuscript or other commercial considerations.
We strive to provide seamless high-quality publishing services to the academic community. Reviewers are expected to respond to and submit review reports in a timely manner. Reviewers should contact the editor promptly if they require an extension to the review deadline. Similarly, reviewers are required to inform the editors as soon as possible if they find they do not have the adequate level of expertise to assess a manuscript to avoid any delay in review process.
Reviewers are expected to assess the following aspects of a manuscript:
NoveltyReviewers assess whether the manuscript reports innovative practices, methods, techniques, and theories, and whether it creates an advance in current knowledge.
SignificanceReviewers assess whether the topic is timely and relevant to the field, and whether the manuscript makes significant contributions to the field.
Scientific SoundnessReviewers assess whether the studies are correctly designed, whether the analyses are performed with high technical standards, whether the data are enough to support the conclusions, and whether information is clear enough to allow other researchers to reproduce the results.
Clarity of PresentationReviewers assess whether the manuscript is written in a clear, professional structure without grammatical flaws or writing errors, whether the information presented is clear and cohesive, and whether there are organizational or stylistic barriers that would prevent effective communication of the work.
LanguageReviewers assess whether the English language is appropriate and understandable.
Reviewers' recommendations are very important for the editors to make decisions on manuscripts. Reviewers are asked to provide an overall recommendation for the publication of the manuscript as follows:
Reviewers should list the reasons for any decision they make. For Minor/Major Revision decision, they should specify revisions they would recommend.