Guidelines for Reviewers

The Emerging Medical Science journal utilizes a single-anonymous review process, where reviewers remain unnamed to the authors, while the reviewers can identify the authors' identities.

Overview

Reviewers receive an email invitation to evaluate a submission, which contains the submission's title, abstract, the journal's URL, and a username and password for access to the journal's platform. The journal may also opt to send the submission as an email attachment along with the review invitation, allowing the Reviewer to respond via email. The primary method for conducting reviews, ensuring thorough documentation of the process, involves Reviewers performing their evaluations directly on the journal's website.

Competing Interests

As a reviewer for Emerging Medical Science, you are expected to maintain the integrity of the peer review process, making the assessment of conflicts of interest essential. These conflicts can lead to perceived or actual biases that may undermine the validity of a study, even if the research itself is sound. Conflicts of interest can be financial or non-financial, and may stem from personal or professional relationships with individuals or organizations.

If you suspect that you have a conflict of interest, please reach out to the editors. They may choose to proceed with your review or opt for another reviewer. Regardless, it is crucial for the editor to be informed about the nature of any conflicts so they can take them into consideration when evaluating the feedback provided by reviewers.

Reviewer assessment

The peer review process serves two primary purposes: to help identify manuscripts that are suitable for publication in EMS and to facilitate the enhancement of those manuscripts. Reviewers are expected to evaluate the quality, validity, and relevance of the submitted work, providing constructive criticism to the authors as needed. Your assessment should focus on the manuscript's originality, clarity, relevance to the journal's audience, and the rigor of its methodology. Specifically, reviewers will be asked to evaluate the paper based on the following criteria:

The design and quality of the data presented
The adequacy of the discussion and conclusions drawn
The soundness of the methodology employed
The significance of the study in providing new insights or confirming existing knowledge

Attention to the title is essential, as it should be both informative and concise. The abstract also plays a crucial role since many readers may only review the title and abstract.

In your feedback to the authors, please begin with general observations and a brief summary of your thoughts on the manuscript. Do not indicate your recommendation for acceptance or rejection; this should be noted on the confidential form submitted to the Editor. Following your general comments, provide major critiques related to the Abstract, Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results, and Discussion sections. Additionally, include minor comments on various parts of the manuscript. If you believe the manuscript is unsuitable for publication, even after revisions, detailed comments to the authors are not necessary. However, your confidential remarks to the Editor explaining your recommendation for revision or rejection are highly valued.

Please be aware that EMS is committed to reducing publication times, and the review process is critical in this effort. If you are unable to review a manuscript, we encourage you to inform us promptly or to adhere to the deadlines provided in your reviewer request. Should you encounter difficulties meeting the deadline, please notify the editorial office so they can communicate with the authors and update the system accordingly. The current rejection rate is high due to the volume of submissions, and it is often necessary to ask authors to condense their manuscripts by reducing the number of tables, figures, and references. Ultimately, the Editor may reject papers even if reviewers recommend them for publication, with a particular emphasis on the relevance of the work to the rehabilitation field.