Peer Review Policy of Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki

Evaluation of the manuscript

All articles submitted to the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki are reviewed first by the Editor and then by at least two members of the editorial board at his discretion. If the article does not have basic standards (e.x. includes scientific or ethical flaws) or is outside the scope of the journal, it will not be accepted. Papers with primary qualifications will be sent to two or more independent referees who specialize in the subject matter. If the article includes statistical calculations, it will be sent to a statistics expert. The judges evaluate the manuscript in terms of authenticity, validity and importance to assist the Editor in making the final decision. All manuscripts are considered confidential documents.

Authors whose papers are not accepted at this stage will be notified within two weeks of receiving the paper.

Type of peer review

The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki uses Double-blind Peer Review method, in which the referees remain anonymous to the author during and after the refereeing, and the author(s) will also be unknown to the referee(s) during the refereeing process. In the refereeing process, logical measures are taken to keep the authors anonymous. Authors should be careful not to mention anything in the body of the article that indicates their identity. For example, they should not mention their name and organizational affiliation in the text or attachments of the article. If necessary, they can write their acknowledgement, authors’ contributions and the order of the authors’ names in the cover letter and should avoid mentioning it in the body of the article. This information will be inserted in the relevant part after refereeing.

Referee selection process

The selection of referees is very important to ensure the scientific qualifications of the published articles. This is done based on factors such as expertise in the subject matter, reputation, conflict of interest and experiences. Also important for the referees are the speed, accuracy, and, correct reasoning. If it is difficult to select a referee for some articles, the corresponding author will be asked to suggest two referees. The article will be sent to at least one of the suggested referees. In order to be able to apply the opinions of other experts, the database of referees will be constantly updated.

Refereeing report

The referees are asked to evaluate the manuscript in terms of the following:

Does it apply scientific, original and up-to-date approaches?

Is it appropriate in terms of methodology?

Have ethics considerations been taken into account in the research?

Are the findings acceptable and transparent?

Is the discussion section appropriate, accurate and complete?

Does it have a scientific and clear reasoning in general?

Is it a novel or prioritized national and international research?

Duration of refereeing

The time required for the refereeing process depends on the referees’ opinions. The usual duration for the first round of refereeing is approximately six weeks, or two months maximum. If the report provided by the referees contradict with each other or is delayed for no good reason, the opinions of other referees may be sought. Obviously, this duration will become longer.

The opinion of the referees will be sent to the corresponding author along with the recommendations (if any) by the executive director of the Journal.

The corresponding author is assigned to highlight the corrections made to the article along with other authors within a specified period of time, usually 14 days, and send them along with a separate letter in response to the referee’s comments. The revised version will then be sent to one of the referees for comparison. If approved, the article will be sent to the Deputy Editor for review of English and Persian abstracts, to the statistical scientific secretary for control of statistical data (if any) and to the scientific secretary for scientific editing control.

Making the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the article is the responsibility of the Editor and the recommendations of the referees may assist the Editor in this regard. If accepted, the article will be sent for page layout. In order to fix possible problems, a galley proof will be sent to the corresponding author. Defects must be reported to the Journal secretariat within 48 hours.

Any delay in any stage will cause the article to be removed from the refereeing agenda, publishing and indexing. No changes will be made to the article after its publication, and the author(s) are responsible for any mistakes, especially regarding organizational affiliation.

Becoming a referee for Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki

Dear author, if you have never been a referee in the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki, and if you are willing to cooperate, you can contact the Editor. One of the benefits of refereeing for this journal is reviewing the latest researches in medical ethics and contributing to scientific development and propagating the results. Referees who collaborate with the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki will be issued a certificate of refereeing, which can later be used for professional development in accordance with the relevant laws and can be submitted to the relevant organizations.

ROLE OF REVIEWERS

With their expertise, experience and carefulness, the honorable reviewers greatly contribute to the chief editor and chief editorial board to analyze, choose, modify and improve the quality of articles for further publication in the Journal. So, conducting a proper and precise review process is emphasized and requested by the chief editorial board of Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki. In this journal, the Double-Blind Peer Review is used, in which during and after the review, the identity of reviewers is kept hidden for the writer (s). The identity of writer(s) is also unknown to the reviewers during the review process. The journal staff thus try to take necessary measures and apply necessary policies in order to ensure that the identity of the writers and reviewers is kept unknown throughout the process of receiving to printing of the articles.

As the role of reviewers in accepting, asking for corrections or rejecting the article, is the key determinant, in order to increase the quality of review, please pay attention to the review policies of Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki, as follows:

• In case you are not, for whatever reason, able to carry out the review of article within the specified deadline, please avoid admitting the review.
• If you have a conflict of interests in an article, please inform the chief editor and avoid doing the review.
• The manuscript, submitted to you for review, is a confidential document; so make sure you deliver enough care in keeping its confidentiality.
• Do not assign the review of a submitted manuscript, to a third party.
• If you are certain that the article under review, has been published in another publication, or it is in the process of being published, immediately inform the matter to the chief editor.
• Study all parts of the submitted articles and express your valuable comments, without any waiver or bias.
• Always consider the goals of Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki, mentioned in Section: “About the journal” and reconcile the submitted articles with them. Please announce if the article is not in line with the journal’s goals.
• If you realize that the article submitted for review, is not within your area of qualifications, inform the chief editor and the chief editorial board as soon as possible, so that a substitute reviewer is assigned to the work. You can also introduce individuals who have qualifications in the relevant subject matter.
• Throughout the review process, make sure you always stick to the principles of fairness, justice and non-bias.
• Being useful and constructive are the main characteristics of any reviewer. So please express your valuable comments in a respectful and scientific manner.
• Give your comments in an objective, clear and transparent manner and in the form of scientific criticism, so that the writer(s) can clearly understand what you mean.
• Avoid using complicated and unusual words in your comments.
• Complete all parts of the review questionnaire given to you and provide the chief editor of the journal with your constructive and valuable advices in the relevant section.
• In case you realize that an article does not maintain necessary and acceptable factors for achieving a desirable quality for printing, and it is uncorrectable, propose rejecting of the article.
• In addition to review, make sure you also examine the scientific contents, literary and writing aspects and provide your comments for betterment of the text.

Completion of review form in the portal is a requirement for review. So please avoid expressing your comments via telephone, email or orally.