Editorial Process

We will do our best to make the peer review faster. To help us in this task, and to avoid any delays to publication, authors are required to be familiar with our journal guidelines.

Upon receiving of your submission, the Editorial Process occurs according to the following steps:

  1. Checking for compliance to journal guidelines and general criteria for publication;
  2. Sending the manuscript to reviewers (single blind peer review);
  3. Receiving reviewer review and recommendations;
  4. Drafting an editorial decision.

editorial process

The editor makes one of the following decisions:

  1. Accept in its current form: the manuscript will be published in its original form, without changes.
  2. Accept after minor revisions: the authors will be given three days to address minor changes before final acceptance.
  3. Reconsider after major revisions: The manuscript needs substantial changes and improvement. The authors need to submit a point by point response to the reviewer comments. The revised manuscript is sent for a second round of peer review, likely to the reviewers of the first round.
  4. Revise and resubmit: the manuscript is rejected, but the editor might suggest resubmission, as a new submission, once the manuscript has been substantially revised based on the reviewers and editor comments.
  5. Reject: The editor rejects manuscripts with no significant original contribution and/or that show serious flaws.

The name of the editor will appear in the published articles in order to ensure transparency for the readership, and in recognition of the editor’s effort and care in making decisions on the suitability for a manuscript for publication, after peer review.

Revised Manuscript

Authors are asked to resubmit the revised paper within the time frame indicated by the editor (please contact the editor if you need more time). Authors are required to provide:

  1. a revised editable manuscript that address the reviewer and/or editor comments. Please use Microsoft Word's built-in track changes function to highlight any changes you make.
  2. a detailed point-by-point response to the comments of the reviewers and/or editors.
  3. a cover letter that briefly describes how the revised manuscript addresses these comments.

Accepted Manuscript

Accepted manuscript will undergo checking for ethics, plagiarism , and image manipulation. Manuscripts are then copyedited, sent to authors for proofreading, and published online. Publication may be delayed if substantial changes are made to the manuscript after acceptance.

Artwork Submissions for Cover images

Authors are invited to submit creative and artistic cover images related to their accepted manuscript, to be freely showcased on the journal cover. Several different high quality images can be submitted for consideration. The aesthetic quality of the image and the scientific quality of the study are the main criteria of image selection by the editors. Images not selected for cover use may be used on Scientific Letters website and in social media. Please provide a suggestion for image legends. When applicable, authors are required to provide the permission of the image copyright holder.

Appeals

If the authors believe that there was no convincing evidence to substantiate the editorial decision, they can contact us at hassan.bousbaa@iucs.cespu.pt. Please provide detailed reasons for the appeals that will be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. An academic Editor will be consulted and the manuscript may be recommended for publication, further peer-reviewed, or irreversibly rejected.

Complaints

Regardless of their status or identity, any complaints made against our published content are investigated in a discreet manner and in compliance with COPE rules. In many cases, an internal review will be conducted to see if a thorough inquiry is necessary. Every investigation we do into one of our articles will involve the author and the Journal Editor. We may frequently need to get in touch with outside parties, such as impartial experts, author institutions, or their financial sources, and this will always be done in compliance with GDPR requirements.