This article shows the editorial process after Submitting a manuscript to a journal.
Stage 1: Initial quality check
This stage includes checks on authorship, competing interests, ethics approval and plagiarism.
We oversee this process to ensure that your manuscript contains everything our editors and peer reviewers need to perform a fair and thorough assessment of your work.
Stage 2: Editor assigned
Once your manuscript passes the initial quality check, we assign it to a member of Editorial Board, who is an active researcher in your field.
If the editor is satisfied with your work, they will choose appropriate peer reviewers to evaluate your work, taking into account several factors including expertise, experience and apparent conflicts of interest.
Stage 3: Peer review
Reviewers will assess the technical soundness and scientific validity of your methods, analysis and interpretation, all of which must be appropriate, properly conducted, ethically robust and fully supported by the data.
For additional information, please check our peer review policies for Springer, BMC and Nature portfolio or visit the respective journal website.
Stage 4: Decision
The editor will then decide whether to accept your work as is, request minor or major revisions, or reject the paper due to unresolvable concerns. In case of a rejection, an article transfer will be considered.
For all subsequent steps, please check Next steps for publishing your article: What to expect after acceptance.