Peer Review Policy

Overview
Peer Review Process
Privacy and Confidentiality
Conflict of Interest in Reviewing Process
Publication Ethics Statement

1. Overview

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Human Reproduction and Endocrinology (Abbreviated as JHRE) journals are subjected to an initial assessment to determine if they meet the minimum editorial standards and are suitable for subsequent peer review. Decisions to reject or accept the manuscript are at the discretion of the editor, who shall take the peer-reviewed reports into consideration, but will not absolutely rely on the conclusions or opinions in it. The manuscripts may be rejected in the presence of any concern proposed by a single peer reviewer or the editor. At the end of peer review process, the final decision from the editors, along with peer-reviewed reports, will be sent to the authors.

All journals of JHRE adheres to the corresponding criteria in Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

2. Peer Review Process

Pattern of Peer Review: Double-blind peer review is adopted in JHRE, during which process both the authors and reviewers are unknown to each other.

Assignment of Reviewers: Reviewers invited to participate in the manuscript assessment will be assigned appropriate tasks in accordance with their expertise, reputation, specific recommendations, conflict of interest, etc.

Duty of reviewers: In case of any potential conflict of interest concerning the assigned review task, reviewers must disclose it first. The editors in JHRE will make adjustment accordingly with serious consideration . Disclosure of confidential information involving in the conversations between reviewers and editors to the third parties is not allowed.

Reviewers will be anonymous to the authors. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated by reviewers as confidential documents without sharing with anyone outside the peer review process. Reviewers are responsible for proposing unbiased scientific opinions, disclosing any conflict of interest and submitting their comments within the required time.

For the comprehensive assessment of manuscripts, some core aspects that should be critiqued by reviewers may include:

(1) Do the title and abstract cover the main aspects of the paper?

(2) Is the rationale for the research clearly stated in the introduction in light of the available literature?

(3) Is an existing problem comprehensively and critically assessed in the article in light of the available literature?

(4) Did the study gain appropriate ethical approval and /or informed consent if human or animal subjects were involved ?

(5) Are the methods clear and replicable?

(6) Are sample quantities, repetitions, equipment and chemicals used explicitly mentioned?

(7) Is the antibody catalog number provided?

(8) Is the statistical analysis appropriate to the study design?

(9) Is the main viewpoint clearly and logically described in the discussion by comparing the existing literature and the research findings?

(10) Are conflicts of interest disclosed？

(11) Data from patient or animal assays should be properly documented. Most journals require ethical approval from the author’s host organization. For more information, refer to Editorial Policies.

(12) Do you think the manuscript requires English editing to correct the grammar or fluency?

For details about Editorial Policies, please refer to Editorial Policy.

3. Privacy and Confidentiality

In JHRE journals, confidentiality of manuscripts should be strictly ensured during peer review, as it is closely associated with the reputation and career of the authors who entrust editors with their scientific research achievements and creative efforts . Reviewers who are commissioned to perform the assessment task are not allowed to share or discuss the content with anyone outside the peer review process. If necessary, they should first contact the editors of JHRE and obtain the corresponding authorization of authors.

The editors in JHRE cannot disclose the information about the submitted manuscript (e.g., the content of manuscript, the status of the review process, peer review comments, and editorial decisions) to anyone else, except for the authors and reviewers.

The right of the authors should be protected, and any inappropriate discussion on authors’ work and misuse of their ideas are not allowed prior to publication of submission. Reproduction or information share of the manuscripts is not permitted in the absence of authorization from authors.These should be fully implemented by both reviewers and editors.

4. Conflict of Interest in Reviewing Process

Reviewers should disclose any relevant interests and recuse themselves from the peer-review process in the event of a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise (See ICMJE for more information).

Editorial staff or editors in JHRE are not allowed to participate in the assessment of their own research work. Guest Editors in JHRE cannot be involved in the assessment of the submitted manuscripts when they have potential conflicts of interest with authors, such as sharing an affiliation or having recent collaboration with any author. Under such circumstance, the rights for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of submission are owned by the Editor-in-Chief or a suitable Editorial Board member.

5. Publication Ethics Statement

All parties involved in the act of publishing, including authors, reviewers and editors, should strictly conform to the highest level of professional ethical standards. Prior to submission, proper statistical investigations and thorough ethical reviews should be acquired from data owning organizations. Authors have an obligation to ensure that the submitted manuscript is original and morally acceptable.

JHRE adheres to the publication ethics guidelines from the following organizations:

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Council of Scientific Editors (CSE)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Information Standards Organization (NISO)

World Medical Association (WMA)

World association of Medical editors (WAME)