The editorial process below applies to original research, review articles, outbreak investigations, emerging technologies, concise reports, etc. The process for other article types varies slightly.
Pre-Accept
Post-Accept
Once accepted, manuscripts are further edited for style, clarity, and accuracy. Scrutiny at this stage may reveal further areas of improvement or where clarification is needed.
A few weeks prior to official publication, authors are invited to review an edited proof and respond to all queries. Before being finalized, the associate editor and editor-in-chief conducts a final review.
Fast-Tracking
Authors seeking an expedited peer review or publication should contact the editor-in-chief well in advance of submitting and clearly justify (in writing) why their research findings merit fast-tracking. Reasons might include timeliness and high importance of the research to inform practice during a public health emergency. Reasons other than the above are unlikely to prompt fast-tracking.
Plagiarism Policy
Prior to peer review, all manuscripts are checked for plagiarism. Reports for manuscripts with substantial content duplicated from other sources are investigated to determine whether the duplication constitutes plagiarism.