For editors

The editors are in charge of:

  • Make initial reviews of articles to ensure that they are within the thematic scope of the journal and that they meet the basic requirements for possible peer review;
  • Manage articles if they are within their research area, if not, a member of the editorial committee can be designated to act as managing editor;
  • Evaluate possible conflict of interest that affect the transparency of the editorial process;
  • Invite a minimum of two reviewers per article;
  • Make decisions regarding peer-reviewed articles;
  • Ensure that the deadlines established within the editorial process are met;
  • Suggest changes to the thematic scope of the journal;
  • Assess special issues;
  • Promote the journal;
  • Manage the editorial team, which means they can remove inactive members and bring new members who are experts in the field.

Peer review ensures that the published article has the highest quality standards. For this reason, it is considered the most important phase in the scholarly publication process. The stages of this process are the following:

  • Initial review to ensure that the paper complies with a minimum of quality in terms of content and format.
  • Invite two potential reviewers directly or assign a member of the editorial board to act as Handling Editor. If a Handling Editor is assigned, he/she will invite the reviewers and carry out the remaining editorial process.
  • Invite two potential reviewers to assess the content of the article. Reviewers should be experts in the topic they are proposed to assess, they must not be affiliated in the authors’ institution, and both reviewers should not belong to the same institution.
  • Make a final decision based on the reviewers’ comments. In the event that the reviewers’ reports are completely opposed, a third reviewer needs to be invited. The review process closes when the article has gone through all the necessary review rounds and the author has considered all recommendations. The decisions to make will be the following:
    • Accepted
    • Considered with minor revisions
    • Considered with major revisions
    • Rejected

 

Organizing special issues is a good opportunity for publishing articles on a certain emerging topic. Editors should assess all the special issue proposals from the point of view of its scope and the team of editors behind it, that is, the prospective Guest Editors.

 

If an Editor detects any case of misconduct including authorship disputes, plagiarism, a duplicate submission, conflict of interest, or content manipulation, they should report it to the Editorial Office. AWARI will follow the COPE’s Guidelines to proceed in every single case. For more information about our editorial policies, please visit this page.