How do I process peer review reports and make an editorial decision?

When a reviewer completes their review, all assigned editors will receive a notification informing them that a review has been completed. If the editor has received all the reviews needed then they can now make an editorial decision.

Review comments will appear in the ‘Reviewers’ section of the ‘Review’ tab along with the reviewer name and status. You can read the review by clicking on ‘Read Review’, which will bring up an overlay with the review details and the opportunity to rate the review.

After you have read through the review:

Give the reviewer a star rating (optional) - this will help inform future editors whether the reviewer should be considered for future review tasks
Click the ‘Confirm' button - this logs that you have read and approved the review

The main submission page will now display ‘Thank Review’ to send a thank you email to the reviewer, and ‘Revert Decision’ if you have a reason to believe that the review is not suitable for the submission, such as in the case of an undisclosed conflict of interest.

Updating a submitted review

If the reviewer gets in touch after they have completed their review asking to amend it or to upload a file they had forgotten, then you can do so by clicking on the arrow next to the reviewer name. This will bring up further options, including ‘Review Details’, clicking this will bring up an overlay in which you can amend the review.

When you have read the reviews and are ready to make your editorial decision, you will find the options available on the right hand side, these are:

‘Request Revisions’
‘Accept Submission’
‘Decline Submission’

Requesting revisions from the author

If you decide, based on the peer review, that the submission needs revision, then you can return the submission to the author. To do this click on the ‘Request Revisions’ button. This will bring up an overlay with a predetermined template.

Select one of the below options:

Revisions will not be subject to a new round of peer reviews - i.e. MINOR REVISIONS
Revisions will be subject to a new round of peer reviews - i.e. MAJOR REVISONS

The option that is selected will determine which email template is displayed.

Should you wish to change to a different email template, a list of available templates is available on the left of the display.

This is the email that will be sent to the author. An Editor should read through the whole email, editing it as necessary before pressing the 'Record Decision' button.

Check that the completed review forms will then be displayed at the bottom of the template email.

The next page will look similar, however, this email will be addressed to the peer reviewers, providing them with an update of the editorial decision. To send this email click the 'Record Decision' button.

Should the editor not wish to send the emails, click the 'Skip this email' button.

Declining a submission

If you decide that the submission is not suitable for publication and do not wish to offer the authors the chance to revise and resubmit, then you can decline the submission. To do this click on the ‘Decline Submission’ button.

This will bring up a predetermined email template that you can edit as necessary and can also add the review comments.

Should you wish to change to a different email template, a list of available templates is available on the left of the display.

Files may be attached to any of the decision emails by clicking the 'Attach files' button and uploading the appropriate files.

Edit the email template as required.

Click the 'Record Decision' button when the email is edited and complete.

Declining a submission will permanently archive the paper.

Accepting a submission for publication

If you decide that the submission is ready for publication based on the recommendations from the peer review, then you can accept the submission. To do this click on the ‘Accept Decision’ button.

This will bring up a predetermined email template that you can edit as necessary and can also add the review comments.

Should you wish to change to a different email template, a list of available templates is available on the left of the display.

Files may be attached to any of the decision emails by clicking the 'Attach files' button and uploading the appropriate files.

Edit the email template as required.

Click the 'Record Decision' button when the email is edited and complete.

The next step is to select the files you wish to send onto typesetting for publication. Note that the only files available here are files that have been uploaded as revisions and therefore if you are accepting a submission after a round of review, this section will be empty. By clicking ‘Record Decision’, you will be accepting the submission and moving the submission onto the ‘Copyediting’ tab and stage. Doing so will not send the submission through to typesetting yet and you can also select the files you wish to choose for publication during this stage.

Any files that are selected for publication will appear in the ‘Draft Files’ section of the ‘Copyediting’ tab. If there are any files from either the original submission or a previous round of review that you wish to include in this selection, then you can add them by clicking on ‘Upload/Select Files’ in the ‘Draft Files’ section.

This will open an overlay in which you view and select files from earlier rounds by ticking on the box for ‘Show files from all accessible workflow stages’. If your journal does not use the copyediting stage on the OJS, then you can complete the process and send the submission onto typesetting and production by clicking on ‘Send to Production’ on the ‘Copyediting’ tab.