Peer Review Process

Key points in the Peer Review Process:

• Manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo initial screening by the editorial team before being considered for publication;
• Manuscripts that pass the screening will be sent to at least two peer reviewers for review;
• Peer reviewers independently make recommendations to the journal editor as to whether the manuscript should be rejected or accepted (with or without revision); and
• The journal editor considers all feedback from peer reviewers and decides to accept or reject the manuscript.

  How does it work?

  When a manuscript is submitted to a journal, it is evaluated to see if it meets the criteria for submission. If so, the editorial team will select potential peer reviewers in the field of research to review the manuscript and make recommendations. There are four types of peer review used by SMARTSPORT:

  • Single-blind: reviewers know the author's name, but authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript unless reviewers choose to sign their reports;
  • Double-blind: reviewers do not know the author's name, and authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript;
  • Open peer: authors know who the reviewers are, and reviewers know who the authors are. If the manuscript is accepted, the named review reports are published alongside the article; and
  • Transparent: reviewers know the author's name, but authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript unless reviewers choose to sign their reports. If the manuscript is accepted, anonymous reviewer reports are published alongside the article.
    

    The peer-review process is as follows:

    1. Manuscript Submission

    2. Evaluation by the Editorial Board

    3. Peer Review Invitation

    4. Response to Invitation

    5. Review Conducted

    6. Editor Evaluates Review Results

    7. Decision

    8. Next Steps

    If accepted, the manuscript is sent to production. If the manuscript is rejected or sent back to the author for revision, the Section Editor will include constructive comments from the reviewers to help the author improve the article. The author must correct and revise the manuscript according to the reviewer's comments and instructions.

    If the editor approves the revised manuscript, the manuscript is considered accepted. Accepted manuscripts will be published online and are available as free downloadable PDF files (open access).