Scientific peer review in publishing

摘要

Peer review is commonly accepted as an essential component of scientific publication,1 but the ways in which peer review is put into practice varies across journals and disciplines. The scientific review process undertaken by Nutrition and Dietetics has evolved substantially over the last decade, with a transition to electronic submission and review using Schol-arOne Manuscript software,2 whereby a manuscript is electronically tracked throughout the review process. Scientific review involves the input of many experts, including the Editor, Associate Editors, reviewers and researchers. There are a number of stages where a body of work is assessed for quality and bias. When a manuscript is initially submitted, an Editorial Assistant provides the initial screening to ensure it conforms to mandatory journal requirements,3 such as ethics approval and basic grammatical quality including formatting and word limits. If suitable, it is forwarded to the Editor who provides an initial scientific assessment and deems whether the research is suitable for the journal audience. Depending on this decision, the Editor sends the manuscript back to the author or assigns an Associate Editor to manage the submission.