Reviewer Guideline

Duties of Reviewers/Referees

The main responsibilities of reviewers/referees are as follows:

• Reviewers should keep all information regarding papers confidential and treat them as privileged information.
• Reviews should be conducted objectively, with no personal criticism of the author.
• Reviewers assist in the editorial decision process and as such should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
• Reviewers should complete their reviews within a specified timeframe. In the event that a reviewer feels it is not possible for him/her to complete review of manuscript within a stipulated time, then this information must be communicated to the editor so that the manuscript could be sent to another reviewer.
• Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s personal research without written permission of the author. Information contained in an unpublished manuscript will remain confidential and must not be used by the reviewer for personal gain.
• Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
• Reviewers should identify published work in manuscripts that has not been cited by the author. Reviewers should also notify the Editors of significant similarity or overlap between the manuscript and any other published or unpublished material.