Open Access Policy

Overview

We have rigorous policies to control every stage and aspect of our referee process from initial submission through to revisions, decisions, and appeals.

Initial Submission

Once submitted, your manuscript is assigned to a member of the Editorial Board, who reviews the paper and decides whether it is appropriate for the journal. Manuscripts that are within scope and appear, on initial assessment, to be technically sound and scientifically valid, are sent to external reviewers.

Copies of any papers containing similar or related work under consideration or in press at other journals must be included with the submission.

Peer Review

During peer review, reviewers can access the manuscript securely using the online system while maintaining referee anonymity.

At the submission stage, authors may indicate a limited number of scientists who should not review the paper. Excluded scientists must be identified by name. Authors may also suggest potential reviewers; these suggestions are often helpful, but they are not always followed.

By policy, referees are not identified to the authors, except at the request of the referee.

Decision After Review

After considering the reviewer reports, the Editorial Board Member may make one of the following decisions:

  • Accept outright
  • Request a minor revision, where authors revise the manuscript to address specific concerns
  • Request a major revision, where authors revise the manuscript to address significant concerns and perhaps undertake additional work
  • Reject outright

Revisions

If referees or the Editorial Board Member request changes to the manuscript, authors are invited to prepare a revision. The decision letter specifies a deadline for submission of the revised manuscript. Once resubmitted, the manuscript may be sent back to the original referees or to new referees, at the Editorial Board Member’s discretion.

A revised manuscript should be submitted via the revision link provided in the decision letter, and not as a new manuscript. The revision should also be accompanied by a point-by-point response to referees explaining how the manuscript has been changed.

The journal aims for accepted manuscripts to undergo one round of revision before acceptance for publication, so all issues raised should be addressed in the first round of revision.

Final Submission and Acceptance

When all editorial issues are resolved, the paper is formally accepted for publication. The received date stated on the paper is the date on which the original submission passed the journal’s standard quality control checks. The accepted date is the date on which the Editorial Board Member sent the acceptance letter.

After acceptance, authors are sent proofs of their manuscript, but only changes to the title, author list, or scientific errors are permitted. All corrections must be approved by the publishing team. Journal of e-Science Letters reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.

Appeals

Even in cases where Journal of e-Science Letters does not invite resubmission of a manuscript, some authors may ask the Editorial Board to reconsider a rejection decision. These are considered appeals and, by policy, take second place to the normal workload, so decisions on appeals often take several weeks.

Only one appeal is permitted for each manuscript, and appeals can only take place after peer review. Final decisions on appeals are made by the Editorial Board Member handling the paper.

Decisions are reversed on appeal only if the relevant Editorial Board Member is convinced that the original decision was a serious mistake. If an appeal merits further consideration, the Editorial Board Member may send the authors’ response and the revised paper out for further peer review.