The review process of the journal takes place according to the following procedure:

  1. Before submission, authors are requested to consult the journal’s guidelines for authors which is available here (https://ijobmem.icbmem.org/).
  2. After finalizing their paper according to these guidelines, authors submit their manuscripts by sending them through the online submission system (https://ijobmem.icbmem.org/jr-online-article-submission/)
  3. Authors are sent acknowledgement of receipt of the submission.
  4. The paper are pre-reviewed by one of the editors-in-chief and within a few days this editor-in-chief decides whether a submitted paper satisfies the journal’s criteria for review. If the paper does not comply with the criteria of the journal, the author(s) will receive a message with arguments for rejection and, if possible, a helpful recommendation for submission elsewhere.
  5. When the article is accepted for review, the editor-in-chief selects two peer reviewers with an international publication record, upon which these reviewers will receive the paper and a standard evaluation form
  6. Depending on the reviewers and the paper, reviews may take between a few days and two months. The average review time of a paper is one month.
  7. After one month, reviewers who have not yet sent a review will be reminded to send their review as soon as possible.
  8. In case a reviewer has requested more time, the author(s) will be kept informed of the delay.
  9. Reviewers decide whether a paper admitted to the review process is to be rejected, resubmitted or accepted by filling in the evaluation form. Accepted papers are commonly recommended to undergo a list of well-determined revisions. These qualify as ‘minor changes’. Resubmission applies to papers attracting the reviewers yet requiring major amendments.
  10. Authors will be informed about the decision of the reviewer(s), they will be sent a copy of the review, and – if the paper is accepted – instructions for the preparation of the next draft version.
  11. Papers that have to be resubmitted are being evaluated as if they were new submissions; this usually happens by the same reviewer(s). This/these reviewer/s check/s whether the required alterations have been implemented and whether the end result can be accepted.
  12. Final versions of accepted papers should be sent to the journal once more, together with a filled out, printed, signed and scanned Publishing Agreement. The author(s) will receive immediately acknowledgement of receipt of the final version.
  13. The review process ends with a concluding reading of the paper by one of the editors-in-chief for a final check-up; the author(s) will receive acknowledgement of receipt of the final version.
  14. Papers that have been accepted are usually published in the journal issue appearing after acceptance. This means that there is a waiting list of several months before papers/issues are being sent to the publisher.
  15. Each author receives a PDF of the final version of the article.
  16. Depending on the speed of the review and of the revision by the authors, as well as on the number of papers on the waiting list, total time between submission and publication of the papers may range between 2 and 4 months.