Paper submission and acceptance criteria for JMSR

Paper submission and acceptance criteria for JMSR

 Recently a continuous increase has been observed in the number of submissions to Journal of Membrane Science and Research (JMSR). Accordingly, to ensure high-quality publications complying with the yearly issue allotment established, the use of strict, objective, and fair criteria for acceptance are fundamentally important. Indeed, the high number of submissions allows a selection of the most original and interesting contributions to be made.

Currently, submissions are managed by JMSR as illustrated in the following steps:

– Technical Pre-Screening is carried out by Managing Editor prior to forwarding to the Editor-in-Chief to check that the manuscript is complete (i.e. title, affiliations, keywords, main text, and a reference list), English is sufficient for peer review process, figures are complete and clear enough to read and manuscript complies with instructions provided in the Guide for Authors. Submitted papers not meeting these requirements will be returned to the authors who may re-submit their paper after dealing with the issues raised.

– The Editor-in-Chief pre-screens submissions to check that they comply with journal scope, match with the article classifications used by the journal, are of potential interest to readers, and have high relevance. The submission will be returned to the Author for confirming required revision(s). Subsequent to pre-screening, the Editor-in-Chief assigns papers to Editors.

– Editors check assigned papers in greater detail and initiate the peer review process by selecting highly qualified reviewers (at least three expert scholars) to evaluate the manuscript. Editors may also decide to act as reviewers. Editors can recommend to Editor-in- Chief to reject submissions, immediately, that they believe are out of the JMSR’s scope or of low enough quality to not merit review. It is to be noted that all Review/Perspective papers will review by Editor-in-Chief and at least two Editors, beside external reviewers.

– Next, external reviewers provide detailed comments and make their recommendation: accept, minor revision, major revision or reject, or even reject with recommended re-submission. The latter is intended for papers requiring lengthy major revisions.

– Reviewer comments are forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief who make the final decision and, through the Editorial Office, notify authors of the outcome of their paper(s), and send them copies of all reviewer comments.

– Revised manuscripts submitted via the JMSR’s online system are returned to Editor who, perhaps after further revision or re-review, make a final recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief.

The duration of the entire peer review process ideally ranges between 3 and 4 weeks, depending on reviewers’ responsiveness and degree of revisions required. To increase the likelihood of acceptance of submissions, authors should consider three critical matters before submission: (a) target article type, (b) scope of JMSR and (c) assessment of relevance and quality.

A review article or perspective note provides a significant insight and critical analysis of the literature into a specific topic, deemed to be of high relevance in the field of membrane science and research. The quality of the references and their assessment is critical for this type of publication. New tables and figures that present published data in new ways are expected. All review/perspective articles will review by Editor-in-Chief and at least two Editors. These articles should be initially discussed by Managing Editor.

A technical note is a well-documented case study or report that demonstrates quality by providing accurate data and analysis of a specific membrane or membrane-based process, by potential applicability, or by clear technological innovation. These articles should be initially discussed by Managing Editor.

In addition to editorials by Editors of the journal, JMSR encourages the submission of Guest Editorials. These could present discussion of current issues, or proposals for innovative policies, new organisational approaches, new ideas and philosophies, or views on the future examining social, environmental and economic aspects of membranes and membrane processes. These articles should be initially discussed by Editor-in-Chief, directly.

If necessary supplementary text, tables, and figures may be published as additional information.

Papers presented at conference proceeding are welcomed by the JMSR. They would need to meet the requirements dictated in the JMSR’s Aim & Scopes and Guide for Authors, and be regularly submitted. All papers will publish as a special issue. All articles are peer-reviewed to safeguard the scientific quality of the publication. To discuss more about this issue, the Chair of conference/congress/symposium is asked to contact the Managing Editor.

We realize that Authors may at times not appreciate decisions made by the Editorial team. However, our mission is to please both respected Authors and Journal Readers through the successful development of a useful, interesting tool aimed at furthering scientific and technological progress in Membrane Science & Research.

 Editorial Office,

Journal of Membrane Science & Research