STEP ONE: Formatting and guidelines assessment
Our UJEMI editors make a quality check of the manuscript and the figures, and make sure that the authors followed all the submission guidelines. At this stage, the editors will contact authors if:
- The manuscript is missing any of the sections stated in our guidelines
- There are any documents missing in the submission
STEP TWO: Editorial panel review
Our editorial panel will read the manuscript and assess whether the manuscript is
- within the scope of our journal
- clearly written
- presents innovative and original research that contributes to the field
- presents conclusions that are well supported by the data included in the manuscript
STEP THREE: Peer review process
Our objective is to facilitate a learning experience for student authors, regardless of publication outcome. Therefore, UJEMI+ provides a guided publication experience that is more educational and supportive than traditional scientific journals. We use a structured review template that encourages constructive feedback, such as asking for information or ideas that may have been overlooked and soliciting alternative interpretations where reviewers disagree with students’ conclusions. Though we do not specifically train or coach our reviewers (to ensure objectivity), we do introduce the specific aims of UJEMI+ when soliciting reviewers. Senior editors guide student authors throughout the process including meeting to discuss the purpose of peer-review before giving the reviews back to the students. In these meetings, students discuss the value of feedback and prepare to face criticism with a focus on improvement rather than defensiveness. Maintaining this approach is one of the main motivations for establishing a junior/senior editor training structure and focusing on institutionalized consistency within UJEMI.
STEP FOUR: Editorial decision and UJEMI editor meeting
The editor in chief with the editorial panel make the final decision on each manuscript after carefully reading the reviewers feedback. The following are the types of decisions made: Rejected, Need major revisions, Need minor revisions, or Accepted.
After deciding the UJEMI editor in chief meets with the authors to walk them through the feedback received in their manuscript and answer questions that authors may have after reading the reviewers comments about their manuscript.
STEP FIVE: Copyediting
After the UJEMI editor accepts the manuscript, the authors are informed of the decision and the copyediting process starts. After the manuscript is formatted it goes back to the authors for a final formatting check before it is published in our OJS platform.