Overview

The editorial process at J Open & Bioscience and Environment ensures the highest standards of scientific integrity, quality, and transparency. The journal follows a double-blind peer-review system, where both authors and reviewers remain anonymous to maintain fairness and objectivity.

All submissions undergo a structured multi-step editorial process, ensuring compliance with the journal's scope, ethical publishing standards, and scientific rigor.

Editorial Workflow

The editorial process consists of the following stages:

Step 1: Submission and Initial Screening

• Authors submit their manuscripts via the Online Submission System.
• The editorial team checks the manuscript for completeness, formatting, and compliance with journal scope.
• Manuscripts that fail to meet the basic criteria may be returned for revision or rejected at this stage.

Step 2: Plagiarism Screening

• All manuscripts are screened using Turnitin or iThenticate for plagiarism.
• Manuscripts with a similarity score above 20% (excluding references) may be rejected or returned for revision.

Step 3: Peer-Review Process

• Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to two independent reviewers for a double-blind peer review.
• Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on scientific merit, methodology, clarity, originality, and relevance.
• The peer-review process typically takes 4-8 weeks.

Possible Review Outcomes:

Accepted – The manuscript is ready for publication with minor or no revisions.
Minor Revision – Authors need to make minor improvements before final acceptance.
Major Revision – Authors must address significant concerns and resubmit for a second review.
Rejected – The manuscript does not meet the journal’s standards or scope.

Authors must revise and resubmit within the specified timeframe if revisions are required.

Step 4: Editorial Decision

• The Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors review the peer reviewers' feedback and make a final decision.
• Authors receive a detailed decision letter with reviewer comments and revision instructions (if applicable).
• Manuscripts requiring revision must be resubmitted within 2-4 weeks.

Step 5: Copyediting and Proofreading

• Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copyediting, formatting, and proofreading to ensure clarity and consistency.
• Authors receive proofs for final approval before publication.

Step 6: Final Publication & DOI Assignment

• The final version of the manuscript is published online as an open-access article.
• A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is assigned to ensure permanent accessibility.
• Articles are indexed in Google Scholar and other academic databases, with indexing in DOAJ, Web of Science and Scopus planned.

Ethical Considerations

• Confidentiality – Reviewers and editors must maintain strict confidentiality of manuscript content.
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure – Editors and reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest.
• Publication Ethics – The journal adheres to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines to ensure research integrity.