Editorial quality

Abstract

Evaluation procedures used by journals, often in the form of peer review, play an essential role in maintaining the quality, reliability, and validity of published contents. These procedures have a direct influence on shaping the nature and quality of a journal’s editorial process. Therefore, this evaluation process must be rigorous and meet the basic standards as well as generally accepted practices within specific disciplines. 

Main Text

The landscape of scholarly publishing has seen a dramatic change over the last few decades due to digital innovation, with a pivotal transition to online and open access publishing. Open access journals have made academic research more accessible to a wider audience at a much faster speed. Evidence indicates that open access publications have increased significantly in recent years (STM, 2022). This has resulted in growing importance that scholarly research contained in those journals must be meticulously evaluated through a rigorous editorial process to ensure the overall quality of journal contents.

The evaluation process conducted by the journal’s editorial department is most often carried out via peer review. It is a fundamental part of scholarly publishing and acts as a function to prevent low quality and unreliable research from reaching the academic community. The specifics of how the peer review system works may vary across journals and disciplines. However, the journal must meet basic and general principles of peer review for achieving good publishing practice. As a minimum (Hames, 2016; COPE et al.):

1. The selection of peer reviewers should be carried out by the editorial team to ensure that reviewers are experts in the manuscript’s subject area that do not have a conflict of interest with the author(s), and have the required expertise to validate research results and distinguish significant contributions.
2. The peer review policy on the journal’s website should be as transparent as possible to clearly state the specific type and details of the review procedure.
3. The editorial decision should be made based on the scholarly merits of the submitted manuscript and should not be influenced by other factors such as the origin of the manuscript or business models.
4. All parties involved in the peer review process must declare any potential conflict of interest and avoid reviewing and handling manuscripts they are not suitable to make an objective and fair assessment.
5. The proportion of published articles contributed by members of the editorial team and board should be limited to 25% in any single issue, ensuring that the endogeny of a journal is minimised and a more diversified authorship is encouraged. 
    

The evaluation process of a journal can be organised at different stages of journal publishing, either before or after publication, and in other formats. No matter which review model is adopted, the journal or book publisher must openly commit to maintaining high standards in their editorial process since this has significant influence on the journal’s or book publisher’s reputation, their credibility, and the way in which they make a contribution to the academic community.

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References

• STM. (2022). STM Global Brief 2021: economics and market size. An STM Report Supplement. https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/stm.offloadmedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/10032918/2021_10_19_STM_Global_Brief_2021_Economics_and_Market_Size-1.pdf
• Hames, I. (2016). Peer review golden rules and good practice checklist. Science Editing 3(1): 36-42. https://doi.org/10.6087/kcse.61
• COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME. (2023). Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.  https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.12

Further reading

• COPE. (n.d.). Best practice guidelines for journal editors. https://publicationethics.org/search?query=Best+practice+guidelines+for+journal+editors
• DOAJ. (2024). Guide to applying. https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

Frequently Asked Questions 

• Do funding sources influence editorial decisions?
• How can I manage conflicts of interest?

Licensing

This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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