All submitted manuscripts undergo a comprehensive three-step review process: a preliminary check, a plagiarism check, and an independent expert peer review. Each step is designed to ensure the highest standards of academic integrity and scientific quality.

Preliminary Check

The editorial office conducts an initial review to ensure each manuscript adheres to the manuscript preparation guidelines. This includes verifying the format, structure, and overall compliance with the journal’s submission requirements. Manuscripts that do not meet these guidelines will be promptly returned to the authors with specific instructions for revision.

Plagiarism Check

Manuscripts that pass the preliminary check are subjected to a plagiarism check using iThenticate via CrossRef. This tool detects similarities between the submitted manuscript and previously published literature by providing a 'similarity index'. The similarity index helps in identifying instances of text overlap and potential plagiarism.

• Similarity Index > 10%: Manuscripts with a similarity index greater than 10% are returned to the authors without further peer review. Authors must revise their manuscripts to address the high similarity and resubmit.
• Similarity Index 1-10%: For manuscripts with a similarity index between 1% and 10%, the journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on text recycling. This involves evaluating the context of the similarities to determine if they are acceptable or require revision.

Only manuscripts that pass the plagiarism check are advanced to the expert peer review stage.

Manuscripts that pass both the preliminary and plagiarism checks undergo a rigorous single-blind peer review process:

• Single-Blind Review: The identity of the reviewers is kept confidential from the authors, ensuring an unbiased review process. However, the reviewers know the identity of the authors.
• Reviewer Selection: The manuscript is reviewed by at least one independent expert in the relevant field. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise and lack of conflicts of interest with the authors or the manuscript content.
• Evaluation Criteria: Reviewers assess the manuscript based on its originality, scientific rigor, methodology, relevance to the field, and overall contribution to knowledge.
• Feedback: Reviewers provide detailed feedback, including specific comments and suggestions for improvement. This feedback helps authors enhance the quality of their manuscript.
• Editorial Decision: Based on the reviewers’ assessments, the editor makes one of the following decisions:
  • Rejection: Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s standards are rejected. No appeal is possible for rejected manuscripts.
  • Acceptance without Changes: Manuscripts that meet all criteria without needing revisions are accepted as is.
  • Revise and Resubmit: Authors are given the opportunity to address the reviewers' comments and revise their manuscript. The revised manuscript undergoes another round of review to ensure all issues have been addressed satisfactorily.

Handling of Editors' Manuscripts

To maintain objectivity and prevent conflicts of interest, manuscripts authored by editors are reviewed independently by at least two experts in the field. The process includes:

• Independent Review: Ensuring unbiased evaluation by selecting reviewers with no affiliations or conflicts with the submitting editor.
• Addressing Comments: The editor-author must address all comments from the reviewers thoroughly.
• Final Verification: The revised manuscript is reviewed again by the initial reviewers to confirm that all concerns have been addressed before making a final decision.

Once a manuscript is accepted, the following steps are taken:

1. Copy-Editing: The manuscript undergoes professional copy-editing to enhance readability, correct grammatical errors, and ensure consistency.
2. Author Approval: The copy-edited manuscript is sent to the authors for final approval.
3. Publication-Ready PDF: A publication-ready PDF is created and sent to the authors for a final review and approval.
4. Online Publication: Upon final approval, the manuscript is published online. It is made available as open access under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, allowing free access and distribution with proper attribution.
5. DOI Assignment: Each manuscript is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for easy reference and citation.
6. Archiving: The manuscript is archived with Portico to ensure long-term preservation and accessibility.

Indexing

After publication, the manuscript is submitted to relevant indexing databases to enhance visibility and accessibility. The journal collaborates with major indexing services to ensure that the published research is discoverable by a wide academic audience, thereby maximizing its impact and reach.