Manuscripts Reviewing Order
Scientific articles submitted to “The Odesa Medical Journal” are due to be reviewed. The task of reviewing is the most objective assessment of the content of a scientific article, its compliance with the requirements of the journal, analysis of its advantages and disadvantages, making specific recommendations for its improvement. The executive secretary of the journal conducts a preliminary analysis of the articles received by the editors, their relevance to the subject and specialization of the journal. Reviewers are appointed by the editor-in-chief of the journal. In some cases, by the decision of the editor-in-chief, the appointment of the reviewer(s) may be entrusted to a member of the editorial board or decided at a meeting of the editorial board.
Reviewers of the Journal are experienced specialists — doctors of sciences, members of the editorial board and editorial council of the Journal. If necessary the editors enlist cooperation of outside experts. Reviewers must meet the qualification requirements in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated 15.01.2018 № 32. Scientific articles submitted to the journal are sent for review to one reviewer, if necessary — to two reviewers. For all articles submitted to the journal, the level of their uniqueness is determined using the system of software and computer complex Strikeplagiarism.com.
During the review, the correspondence of the article to the topic of the journal and its title, relevance and scientific level, advantages and disadvantages, compliance of the article with the requirements of the editorial board are assessed. In the end the conclusion on expediency of the publication is made.
Reviewing is conducted confidentially on the principle of double “blind” reviewing (neither the author nor the reviewer know each other’s names). The review is provided to the author of the article at his request without a signature, indication of the name, position and place of work of the reviewer. In some cases, at the request of the reviewer and in agreement with the editorial board of the journal, the interaction of the reviewer and the authors may take place in an open mode. This practice is used only if open interaction will improve the presentation of the peer-reviewed work. Usually the reviewer concludes that the article can be published within 14 days.
If the reviewer recommends correcting or finalizing the article, the editors send the author the text of the review to make appropriate changes. Articles submitted to authors for correction should be returned to the editors no later than seven days after receipt. Proofreaders are not sent to the authors, but if this does not violate the schedule of the journal, it is possible to provide a preprint in which it is permissible to correct only typing and factual errors.
The author, whose article was not accepted for publication, is sent a reasoned refusal at his request. The manuscript is not returned.
If the author does not agree with the reviewer’s opinion, he can give a reasoned answer.
If necessary, in agreement with the author, an additional review of the manuscript may be conducted by another specialist.
The final decision on the publication of the article and its terms is made by the editorial board.
In some cases, if there is a positive review, it is possible to publish the article by the decision of the editor-in-chief or his deputy.
After the decision to publish the article, the editors inform the author, indicating the date of publication.
The original reviews are kept in the editorial office for 1 year.