Editorial Criteria and Processes of Articles and Research Papers

​      This document provides an outline of the editorial process involved in publishing an Article and Research Paper in the International Journal of Indian Science and Research (IJISR) and describes how manuscripts are handled by the Editorial Board between submission and publication.

​        Editorial processes are described in the following stages: 

1. ​At submission 

2. After submission

3. After acceptance

At submission

​Criteria for publication

​    The criteria for publication of Papers/Articles in the IJISR are:​

• Report original Articles / Research Papers (the main results and conclusions must not have been published elsewhere)

• Are of outstanding importance

• Reach a conclusion of interest to an interdisciplinary readership.

     Further editorial criteria may be applicable for different kinds of papers, as follows:​

• Large dataset papers: should aim to either report a fully comprehensive data set, defined by complete and extensive validation or provide significant technical advances or scientific insight.

• Technical papers: papers that make solely technical advances will be considered in cases where the technique reported will have significant impacts on communities of fellow researchers.

• Therapeutic papers: in the absence of novel mechanistic insight, therapeutic papers will be considered if the therapeutic effect reported will provide a significant impact on an important disease.

​Decides papers publish

       IJISR has space to publish only 50% or so of the 75 papers submitted each month, hence its selection criteria are rigorous. Many submissions are declined without being sent for review.

How to submit an Article

​      Authors should use the formatting guide section to ensure that the level, length and format (particularly the layout of figures and tables and any Supplementary Information) conforms with IJISR's requirements, at submission and each revision stage. This will reduce delays. Manuscripts should be submitted via our online manuscript submission system. Although optional, the cover letter is an excellent opportunity to briefly discuss the importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal. Please avoid repeating information that is already present in the abstract and introduction. The cover letter is not shared with the referees and should be used to provide confidential information such as conflicts of interest and to declare any related work that is in the press or submitted elsewhere.

​After submission

What happens to a submitted Article?

      The first stage for a newly submitted Article is that the editorial board to consider whether to send it for peer review. On submission, the manuscript is assigned to an editor covering the subject area, who seeks informal advice from editorial colleagues, and who makes this initial decision. The initial judgement is not a reflection on the technical validity of the work described, or on its importance to people in the same field.

​      Special attention is paid by the editors to the readability of submitted material. Editorial Board encourages authors in highly technical disciplines to provide a slightly longer summary paragraph that describes clearly the basic background to the work and how the new results have affected the field, in a way that enables readers to understand what is being described. Editors also strongly encourage authors in appropriate disciplines to include a simple schematic summarizing the main conclusion of the paper, which can be published with the paper as Supplementary Information. Such figures can be particularly helpful to no specialist readers of cell, molecular and structural biology papers, etc.

​      Once the decision has been made to peer-review the paper, the choice of referees is made by the editor who has been assigned the manuscript, who will be handling other papers in the same field, in consultation with editors handling submissions in related fields when necessary. Most papers are sent to two or three referees, but some are sent to more or, occasionally, just to one. Referees are chosen for the following reasons:​

• Independence from the authors and their institutions'

• Ability to evaluate the technical aspects of the paper fully and fairly

• Currently or recently assessing related submissions

• Availability to assess the manuscript within the requested time.

Referees' reports

​The ideal referee's report indicates

• Who will be interested in the new results and why?

• Any technical failings that need to be addressed before the authors' case are established.

     Although IJISR's editors themselves judge whether a paper is likely to interest readers outside its own immediate field, referees often give helpful advice, for example, if the work described is not as significant as the editors thought or has undersold its significance. Although IJISR's editors regard it as essential that any technical failings noted by referees are addressed, they are not so strictly bound by referees’ editorial opinions as to whether the work belongs in IJISR.

​Transparent peer review

​    IJISR uses a transparent peer review system, where for manuscripts submitted from June 2022, we can publish the reviewer comments to the authors and author rebuttal letters of published original research articles. Authors are provided with the opportunity to opt-out of this scheme at the completion of the peer review process before the paper is accepted. The peer-review file is published online as a supplementary peer review file. Although we hope that the peer review files will provide a detailed and useful view of our peer review process, it is important to note that these files will not contain all the information considered in the editorial decision-making process, such as the discussions between editors, editorial decision letters, or any confidential comments made by reviewers or authors to the editors. This scheme only applies to original research articles, and not to Review articles or to other published content.

​Reviewer information

​        In recognition of the time and expertise our reviewers provide to the IJISR’s editorial process, we formally acknowledge their contribution to the external peer review of articles published in the journal. All peer-reviewed content will carry an anonymous statement of peer reviewer acknowledgement, and for those reviewers who give their consent, we will publish their names alongside the published article. We will continue to publish peer review reports where authors opt into our separate transparent peer review scheme. In cases where authors opt into the publication of peer reviewer comments and reviewers opt into being named, we will not link a reviewer’s name to their report unless they choose to sign their comments to the author with their name. 

​​Speed

      IJISR makes decisions about submitting papers as rapidly as possible. All manuscripts are handled electronically throughout the consideration process. Authors are usually informed within a week if the paper is not being considered. Most referees honour their prior agreement with IJISR to deliver a report within seven days or other agreed time limits and send their reports online. Decisions by editors are routinely made very rapidly after receipt of reports, and IJISR offers an advanced online publication (AOP) service to an increasing number of manuscripts.

​What the decision letter means

​       All Articles published in IJISR go through at least one round of review, usually two or three, sometimes more. At each stage, the editor will discuss the manuscript with editorial colleagues in the light of referees’ reports, and send a letter to the author offering one of the following options:​

• The paper is accepted for publication without any further changes required from the authors.

• The paper is accepted for publication in principle once the authors have made some revisions in response to the referees’ comments. Under these circumstances, revised papers are not usually sent back to the referees because further technical work has not been required, but are accepted for publication once the editors have checked that the referees’ suggestions have been implemented and the paper is in the required format (the formatting guide section is helpful to this end).

• A final decision on publication is deferred, pending the authors’ response to the referees’ comments. Under these circumstances, further experiments or technical work are usually required to address some or all of the referees’ concerns, and revised papers are sent back to some or all of the referees for a second opinion. Revised papers should be accompanied by a point-by-point response to all the comments made by all the referees.

• The paper is rejected because the referees have raised considerable technical objections and/or the authors’ claim has not been adequately established. Under these circumstances, the editor’s letter will state explicitly whether or not a resubmitted version would be considered. If the editor has invited the authors to resubmit, authors must ensure that all the referees’ technical comments have been satisfactorily addressed (not just some of them), unless specifically advised otherwise by the editor in the letter, and must accompany the resubmitted version with a point-by-point response to the referees’ comments. Editors will not send resubmitted papers to the reviewers if it seems that the authors have not made a serious attempt to address all the referees’ criticisms.

• The paper is rejected with no offer to reconsider a resubmitted version. Under these circumstances, authors are strongly advised not to resubmit a revised version as it will be declined without further review. But in view of the International Journal for Indian Science and Research's extreme space constraints and a large number of papers under active consideration at any one time, editors cannot assign a high priority to consideration of such appeals. The main grounds for a successful appeal for reconsideration are if the author can identify a specific technical or another point of interest which had been missed by the referees and editors previously.

      Editors’ letters also contain detailed guidance about the paper’s format and style where appropriate, which should be read in conjunction with the manuscript formatting guide when revising and resubmitting.

​After acceptance

​     Space in IJISR is extremely limited, so format requirements must be strictly observed, as advised by the editor handling the submission, and detailed in the manuscript formatting guide.

Sub-Editing of accepted papers

​     After a paper is accepted, it is sub-edited (copy-edited) to ensure maximum clarity and reach, a process that enhances the value of papers in various ways. IJISR's sub-editors are happy to advise authors about the format of their Articles after acceptance for publication.

Their role is to: 

• Edit the language for maximum clarity and precision for those in other disciplines. Special care is given to papers whose authors’ native language is not English, and special attention is given to summary paragraphs.

• Ensure that the paper is at the length specified by the manuscript editor (including a number of figures).

• Ensure that the terminology and notation conform to IJISR's house style.

• Ensure that the figures and tables are clear and will fit in the space available.

Proofs and reprints

​       Our editorial board send authors the edited text for approval before it is typeset. This enables most queries to be resolved before the proof stage. Authors subsequently receive an e-proof, including the figures, and can also download a PDF proof of the layout. We suggest that authors send proofs to co-authors for them to check, but request that changes among the co-authors are coordinated so that only one author communicates with IJISR and only one set of corrections is sent. The corresponding author is responsible on behalf of all co-authors for the accuracy of all content, including the spelling of names and current affiliations of all co-authors, so please ensure these are checked carefully.

       Proofs are cycled between IJISR’s production staff, our typesetter and the author by means of an online production-tracking system. Authors are provided with an encrypted link to this system after their paper has been accepted.  Instructions for ordering reprints are provided after the paper is scheduled for publication.  Moreover, it will be taken correction after issuing DOI number to the articles and research papers, because it will online encrypted publication through various open access systems.

​Publication and the media

​       The Journals and Editorial press office distribute embargoed mailings highlighting upcoming content to registered journalists six days in advance of publication. The titles of forthcoming papers will be listed on the mailing, along with the corresponding author's contact details, which means authors may receive media enquiries relating to their paper during this embargo period. 

​       Authors are free to discuss their paper with the media six days before the publication date and are asked to ensure that IJISR Research's embargo conditions are understood by journalists and others. Journalists have embargoed access to papers via the IJISR press site, and are permitted to show papers to independent specialists a few days in advance of publication, under embargo conditions, solely for the purpose of eliciting comment on the work described.