This Review Policy establishes the regulatory basis, principles and procedures for expert evaluation of scientific articles submitted to the editorial office of the scientific journal 'UNAIDS Journal' (hereinafter referred to as the Journal).
The Policy is aimed at ensuring a high scientific level of published materials, the validity of editorial decisions and compliance with the principles of academic integrity and transparency.
Review procedures are implemented taking into account internationally recognized publication ethics standards and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
All scientific articles submitted to the editorial office of the Journal are subject to mandatory expert evaluation (reviewing) regardless of the scientific status, affiliation or academic degree of the authors.
Expert evaluation is carried out in the format of double-blind review, which excludes the disclosure of personal data of authors and reviewers at all stages of consideration of the manuscript, with the exception of cases provided for by the editorial policy.
During the review process, the manuscript is subject to a comprehensive assessment according to the following key criteria:
The review must contain an analytical conclusion on the substance of the presented work and clearly formulated recommendations regarding the possibility of its publication.
The Journal attracts members of the editorial board and editorial council, as well as independent external experts and practitioners with confirmed scientific competence in the relevant field of knowledge as reviewers.
Reviewers are notified that all materials passed to them for review are the intellectual property of the authors and relate to confidential information.
Reviewers are prohibited from:
The reviewer is obliged to consider the manuscript sent to him within the time limits established by the editorial office and send a review to the editorial office or present a motivated refusal to participate in the review.
The term for conducting the review is determined by the editorial office, taking into account the need to ensure the most prompt publication of the article and does not exceed 30 calendar days from the moment the manuscript is received by the editorial office of the Journal.
The review is provided in electronic form through the Journal's online system or in another way established by the editorial office.
The review is drawn up in strict accordance with the approved template (Appendix 2). Failure to comply with the requirements of the template may serve as a basis for returning the review for revision.
The concluding part of the review should present:
Based on the results of the expertise, the reviewer may recommend:
In cases of recommendation for revision or refusal of publication, the review must contain a reasoned justification for the decision made, indicating the identified shortcomings, including links to specific fragments or pages of the manuscript.
The reviewer's comments and suggestions should be objective, principled and constructive and be aimed at improving the scientific and methodological level of the presented work.
The final decision on the feasibility of publishing an article based on the results of reviewing is made by the editorial office of the Journal.
In case of a positive decision, an official notification is sent to the author by e-mail indicating the decision made and the number of the Journal in which the publication of the article is planned.
Upon a positive decision on publication, the author is obliged to draw up a cover letter in accordance with the established form (Appendix 3).
If the article is recommended for publication after revision, the author is sent a letter with a list of comments and recommendations or a copy of the review.
The revised manuscript is subject to re-reviewing within the time limits determined by the editorial office. The editorial office and reviewers do not enter into discussions with authors regarding the content of the review and the formulated comments.
In case of rejection of the article from publication, the editorial office sends the author a motivated refusal with a copy of the review attached.
The editorial office of the Journal does not store manuscripts that have not been accepted for publication.
Reviewing of materials submitted to the editorial office of the Journal is carried out in compliance with the principles of confidentiality, independence and objectivity of expert assessment.
Submission of a manuscript to the Journal means the author's agreement with the provisions of this Review Policy.
The editorial office of the Journal reserves the right to review and update this Policy taking into account the development of international scientific standards and changes in editorial procedures.