Authors – Peer Review

Peer Review

Authors

Criteria for Publication Reviewing for JoVE Conflict of Interest Anonymity Confidentiality Reviewer Selection Peer Review Board Guidelines Peer Review Board

Criteria for Publication

We value reviewers’ opinions on clarity of presentation, scientific accuracy, usefulness, compliance with research standards, technical quality, and overall impact. JoVE seeks to publish articles that are detailed and thorough enough for a researcher in the field to replicate the experiments.

Important Considerations:

Manuscripts should be written in standard American English.
Terminology and jargon should conform to community standards within the field of expertise.
All animal research should comply with standard ethical guidelines. We send all articles containing animal research out for an independent veterinary review, but welcome additional comments.
JoVE publishes expanded descriptions of experimental procedures that may have appeared in other journals, but we do not republish data or results without permission from the original publisher. If you have concerns about the novelty of a submission, please mention this in your comments.
Comments can be as general as suggesting, for example, that the discussion needs to be expanded, or as specific as pointing out a specific typographical error. Most reviewers provide a blend of general and specific comments.

Professional Guidelines

Reviewing for JoVE

Accepting an Invitation to Review

You will receive an email inviting you to review for JoVE. Click on the “Accept” link in the email if you agree to review the manuscript. This will direct you to our manuscript management system, Editorial Manager. You will see a confirmation message in Editorial Manager. To continue, click the “Pending Assignments” link. To view the full manuscript click “View Submission” under the “Action Links” heading (the manuscript should appear as a downloadable PDF).

Reviewing the Submission

To submit your comments, click the “Submit Recommendation” link. Write your comments in the “Reviewer Blind Comments to Author” box. If you have confidential comments for the editor, write them in the “Reviewer Confidential Comments to Editor” box. If you would like to save your comments and complete them at a later time, click the “Save & Submit Later” button. If you are satisfied with your comments and would like to submit now, click the “Proceed” button. You will then have a chance to review your comments before you submit your final review.

Some questions to consider when reviewing the manuscript:

Are the title and abstract appropriate for this article?
Are there any other potential applications for the experiment that the authors could discuss?
Are all the materials and equipment needed listed in the table? (Please note that any basic lab materials or equipment do not need to be listed, e.g. pipettes.)
Do you think the steps listed in the procedure would lead to the described outcome?
Are the steps listed in the procedure clearly explained?
Are any important steps missing from the procedure?
Are appropriate controls suggested?
Are all the critical steps highlighted?
Is there any additional information that would be useful to include?
Are the anticipated results reasonable, and if so, are they useful to readers?
Are any important references missing and are the included references useful?

Conflict of Interest

JoVE recognizes a possibility of financial, professional and other conflicts confronting authors, reviewers, and editors. Therefore, JoVE requires authors, reviewers, board members, referees, and editors to disclose any association that poses a potential conflict of interests in connection with their role in the publication process. Disclosing a potential conflict provides the reader with the information necessary to independently assess the work, but usually does not invalidate the author’s submission or work done by reviewers.

Conflicts that must be declared include:

A financial benefit exceeding $10,000 (annual)
5% ownership of a company
Relationships with corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the article
Employment
Substantive ownership of stock
Service on the directors’ or advisory boards
Receiving consulting fees
Related patent applications
Peer review by a direct coworker, collaborator or family member (peer review by a known colleague in the field is encouraged)

JoVE reserves the right to publish an erratum disclosing a conflict of interest related to a previously published paper. Authors, referees, or editors who have deliberately or recklessly failed to disclose conflicts of interest may be banned from publishing in JoVE for a period of time. This policy applies to all material published in JoVE.

During submission of their manuscripts, authors are required to disclose any conflict of interest. The corresponding author must ensure that all authors have been asked to disclose any and all conflicts of interest. When a conflict of interest is disclosed, either by an author or an editor, it is included in the published article.

We request that peer reviewers declare any financial or personal conflict of interest prior to accepting an invitation to review a JoVE manuscript. For additional information, please see our Editorial Policies

Referees and editors should exclude themselves from handling a submission if a conflict of interest affects their ability to make an impartial scientific judgment.

The final decision on potential conflicts of interest rests with JoVE. If you have any concerns regarding a specific conflict of interest, please contact review@jove.com.

Anonymity

We prefer that reviewers remain anonymous throughout the entire publication process. We will not release reviewer names to authors or other reviewers, even upon request by the reviewer in question. Reviewers should keep in mind that revealing one’s identity may compromise one’s ability to provide an objective review. JoVE will not allow any attempt by authors to determine the identity of reviewers and we encourage reviewers to neither confirm nor deny any speculations as to their identity.

Confidentiality

We ask reviewers to treat the review process as strictly confidential, and not to discuss the manuscript with anyone not directly involved in the review. It is acceptable to consult with colleagues, but please identify them to JoVE. Consulting with experts from outside the reviewer’s own laboratory may be acceptable, but please check with JoVE Peer Review before doing so, to avoid involving anyone who may have been excluded by the authors.

Reviewer Selection and Timeliness

In order to assure the timely and effective review of submissions, JoVE selects expert reviewers who have made contributions to a relevant field of research. In evaluating the quality of reviews we consider criteria such as attention to detail, conciseness, professionalism, and scientific accuracy.

We ask that reviewers submit their comments at their earliest convenience so as not to delay the publication process. If necessary, requests for deadline extensions should be made promptly. Such requests are approved solely at JoVE’s discretion.

JoVE Peer Review Board Guidelines

Professional Guidelines

Qualified Peer Review Board (PRB) candidates will:

Display an expert knowledge in their field demonstrated by relevant publication history or research experience.
Share JoVE’s mission to increase productivity and reproducibility of scientific research.
A preference will be given to candidates who have previously published articles in JoVE or conducted outstanding peer review on JoVE articles.

Responsibilities and Commitment

PRB members will complete the following:

Return their reviews within 2 weeks.
Review 3 JoVE manuscripts per year

Review comments from PRB members will:

Draw attention to scientific inaccuracies in the submission (first priority).
Demonstrate a familiarity with JoVE’s scope by reviewing each manuscript based on scientific rigor and accuracy rather than novelty.
Provide constructive, concise and detailed criticism outlining the ways in which an author can improve their manuscript. Please read the JoVE Peer Review Guidelines for detailed information.

Failure to meet the expectations as outlined may result in exclusion from the JoVE Peer Review Board.

If you are interested in being considered for addition to our Peer Review Board, please e-mail review@jove.com with a cover letter describing why you believe you qualify and a copy of your CV.