GUIDELINES FOR REVIEWERS

The Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine aims to foster the acquisition and maintenance of up-to-date information to ensure high standards of practice. The Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine receives many more submissions than it can publish bimonthly. It is therefore important that manuscripts are critically evaluated for compliance with the ethical and academic standards, including novelty and importance to the scientific field.

The review process

All reviews are processed online through the manuscript management system of the Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine. Reviewers are kindly requested to visit the journal website (http://www.jpatholtm.org), log in with their ID and passwords, and go to the Reviewer Center. Reviewers are recommended to download pdf files of the assigned manuscripts, and make corrections and notes on the file.

The Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine is committed to rapid editorial decisions and publication which are valuable services both to our authors and the scientific community. We therefore ask that reviewers submit their reports within 2 weeks (preferably 1 week) or inform us if they anticipate a significant delay. This allows us to keep the authors informed and, when necessary, find alternative reviewers.

Two or more reviewers per manuscript are invited by section editors. The editors decide on reviewers based on many factors, including expertise, reputation, specific recommendations of authors and editors, and the editor's previous experience with a reviewer. In order to ensure fairness in the review process, we try to avoid reviewers who may have an obvious competing interest, including reviewers who may have been or currently are collaborators with the authors, those who may be in direct competition with the authors, those who have a history of dispute with the authors, or reviewers that have a financial interest in the outcome. As it is not possible for the editors to know of all such competing interests, reviewers who recognize such competing interests are requested to inform the editors and decline to review the manuscript.

Confidentiality

The review process is strictly confidential. Reviewers should not discuss manuscripts for the Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine with anyone not directly involved in the review process, and should not disclose their identities to the authors or to other colleagues. If consultations to other colleagues or experts are necessary the editor should be contacted first.

General guidelines for review

Reviewers are requested to evaluate the manuscripts promptly according to following criteria: originality, scientific importance, adequacy of the methodology, substantial evidence for the conclusions, ethical and legal suitability, and correct and pertinent references. Reviewers are also requested to provide comments on the manuscript, which will 1) provide editors with the information necessary to reach a final decision, and 2) provide the authors with information on how to further improve their manuscripts

The reviewers’ comments can be directly typed in the box provided, or attached as separate files. Reviewers are encouraged to maintain a positive and objective attitude in evaluating manuscripts, and to be honest but not offensive in language when typing their comments. The ideal report should include 1) an initial paragraph summarizing the major findings and the reviewer's overall impressions, and 2) specific comments, preferably numbered, to the authors. In addition, reviewers may submit confidential comments to the editors.

Reviewers can request re-review of revised manuscripts as many times as necessary, or leave the confirmation of minor revisions to the editors.

The Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine observes publication policy and research ethics. Reviewers are responsible to alert the editors to any research misconduct regarding authorship, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, multiple publication, conflicts of interest, privacy and confidentiality, and protection of human subjects and animals in research.