Paper Selection and Publication Process
1. Submission Acknowledgement
When you submit a manuscript online, you will receive a submission acknowledgement letter sent by the online system automatically. For email submission, the editor or editorial assistant sends an e-mail confirmation to the submission’s author within one to three working days. If you fail to receive this confirmation, please check your bulk email box or contact the editorial assistant by email: ls@ideasspread.org
2. Basic Review
The editor or editorial assistant determines whether the manuscript fits the journal’s focus and scope. Next a check for the similarity rate is done using CrossCheck, powered by iThenticate. Any manuscripts out of the journal’s scope or containing plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, are rejected.
3. Peer Review
We use a double-blind system for peer review; both reviewers’ and authors’ identities remain anonymous. The submitted manuscript will be reviewed by at least two experts: one editorial staff member as well as one to three external reviewers. The review process may take 4-12 weeks.
a) Editor Assigns Reviewers
Reviewer Selection: The editor chooses reviewers based on their expertise in the relevant field. Reviewers are usually external experts who are knowledgeable about the topic of the manuscript. The reviewers are not given the author’s identity, affiliation, or other identifying details.
Conflict of Interest Check: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that might bias their review, such as previous collaborations with the authors or professional rivalry. If conflicts are detected, the editor assigns alternative reviewers.
b) Reviewing Process
Evaluation Criteria: Reviewers assess the manuscript’s originality, methodology, data quality, analysis, conclusions, and overall contribution to the field.
Feedback and Recommendation: Reviewers provide detailed comments, suggest necessary revisions, and recommend one of the following decisions: accept, minor revisions, major revisions, or reject.
c) Feedback to Authors
Anonymous Reviewer Comments: The editor consolidates and anonymizes the reviewers' comments. Authors receive this feedback without seeing the reviewers’ names or affiliations, along with specific editorial guidance for revisions if applicable.
Revision and Resubmission: Authors revise the manuscript based on the feedback and resubmit it. The revised manuscript may go through additional rounds of review if significant changes were made.
d) Final Editorial Decision
The editor weighs the reviewers’ comments and recommendations before making the final decision. This might involve further consultation with the reviewers if discrepancies exist in their evaluations.
4. Notification of the Result of Review
The editor notifies the author of the Result of Review, which could be acceptance, additional revisions, or rejection. The result of review will be sent to the corresponding author and forwarded to other authors.
5. Article Processing Charge is Paid
If the submission is accepted, the authors revise paper and pay the Article Processing Charge (200.00USD).
6. Publication Notice
The authors and readers will be notified and invited to visit our website for the newly published articles.
