1. Author Submits a Paper
2. In-House Editor Performs Checks
- Scope suitability
- Study’s novelty & potential impact
- Adherence to Editorial Policies (Ethics, Plagiarism,…)
If deemed suitable, you will be invited to Handle the Manuscript. The invitation email will include a brief summary of the internal Assessment and might, in some cases, contain an In-House Recommendation.
3. You Assess the Manuscript
Please read our guide outlining the key things to look for when assessing Manuscripts. The invitation email may also contain a recommendation by the In-House Editor.
a) If the In-House recommendation is 'Send to Peer-Review', please only perform a quick assessment to ensure there are no big issues that might have been overlooked by the internal Team
b) If there is no In-House recommendation, or it is undecided, please assess the Manuscript more thoroughly
You should return your own Recommendation for each paper to the In-House Editor within 5 days of manuscript assignment.
Our guide to the Editorial Manager system can be found here. This covers the basics of manuscript handling, including how to Accept/Decline an Invitation (p.6), and how to view a Manuscript (p.8)
What to do Next?
- If you think this Manuscript is suitable for Peer-Review, start inviting Reviewers (3A)
- If you think this Manuscript is not suitable for Peer-Review, submit appropriate Decision and provide comments to the authors (3B)
- Unsure how to proceed (3C)
3A. You Invite Reviewers
Please read our guide on our Reviewer’s criteria, how to find suitable Reviewers, and tools you can use to aid you in your search.
For how to invite Reviewers within the Editorial Manager system please see page 11 of our guide. For how to Register a new Reviewer, please see page 13.
If you are struggling to find Reviewers, please contact a member of our In-House team.
3B. You Make the Initial Decision
- Pre-review reject - Transfer to another BMC journal
- Pre-review reject - No Transfer
Please note that all your Decisions will be returned to the In-House Editor for final check. If we agree with your recommendation we will inform the authors of our Decision and copy you in. If there are any concerns with your recommendation, we will contact you.
For how to submit a Decision within the Editorial Manager system, please see page 17.
3C. Unsure
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to your In-House contact for advice, we're always happy to help.
4. You Make the Decision after Review
- Minor revisions (also called "AiP" - Accept in Principle): You are able to check the revisions
- Major revisions: May require re-review from the original reviewers
- Reject after review & Encourage Resubmission
- Reject after review & Transfer to another BMC journal
- Reject after review & Do not allow resubmission or Transfer
Please see our guidance on making Decisions. Please note that all your Decisions will be returned to the In-House Editor for final check. If we agree with your recommendation we will inform the authors of our Decision and copy you in. If there are any concerns with your recommendation, we will contact you.
5. Author Submits a Revised Manuscript
6. You assess the Revised Manuscript
You will receive an email notifying you that a revised manuscript has been submitted.
Please see our guidance on handling Revised Submissions here.
How to invite original Reviewers within Editorial Manager to Revised Submissions, please see page 15 of our guide.
7. You Make the Final Decision
Please note that all your Decisions will be returned to the In-House Editor for a final check. If we agree with your recommendation we will inform the authors of our Decision and copy you in. If there are any concerns with your recommendation, we will contact you.
8. In-House Editor Performs Standard Checks before Acceptance
These include:
- Formatting
- Confirmation of Authorship from all Authors
If all OK, the In-House Editor will proceed to Accept the paper.
