All articles published in the journal «Clinical Oncology» undergo thorough single-blind peer review. This involves review by two independent peer reviewers. The journal uses a single-blind peer review process: each article is evaluated by reviewers who know the authors’ names; the authors do not know the identities of the reviewers.
Peer review policy
All submissions to «Clinical Oncology» journal are assessed by an Editor, who will decide whether they are suitable for peer review. Where an Editor is on the author list or has any other competing interest regarding a specific manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to assume responsibility for overseeing peer review. Submissions felt to be suitable for consideration will be sent for peer review by appropriate independent experts. Reviewers will be treated anonymously, and the pre-publication history of each article will not be made available online. Editors will make a decision based on the reviewers’ reports and authors are sent these reports along with the editorial decision on their manuscript. Authors should note that even in light of one positive report, concerns raised by another reviewer may fundamentally undermine the study and result in the manuscript being rejected.The final decision on whether to accept or reject a particular manuscript is taken by the editor. Before making a decision, the editor analyzes all the reviews and can ask the opinion of a third person or ask the author to correct the material.
The decision to accept an article for publication is based on an assessment of the relevance of the information presented, its scientific novelty, theoretical and practical significance, the article’s structure, the quality of its content, compliance with formatting guidelines and ethical requirements, and the absence of any conflict of interest.
Of there are comments or the manuscript requires further revision, the technical secretary will ask the authors to make the necessary changes; if the manuscript is rejected, the technical secretary will notify the authors of this decision.
The review process takes no more than two business weeks.
Criteria for Selecting Reviewers:
- possession of an academic degree and/or significant experience in the relevant field;
- recent publication record in peer-reviewed journals;
- academic expertise in the subject matter of the submitted work;
- no more than one reviewer from the author’s institution;
- absence of conflicts of interest;
- adherence to the principles of academic integrity;
- involvement of international reviewers (where possible).
The format for documenting reviews is a standardized questionnaire that includes a table with predefined evaluation criteria, allowing for the assessment of relevance, novelty, and methodology, as well as a separate text field for comments and recommendations.
Authors may request exclusion of individuals as peer reviewers, but they should explain the reasons in their cover letter on submission. Please note that the Editor may choose to invite excluded peer reviewers.
Intentionally falsifying information, for example, suggesting reviewers with a false name or e-mail address will result in rejection of the manuscript. «Clinical Oncology»takes seriously all allegations of potential misconduct. In cases of suspected research or publication misconduct, it may be necessary for the Editor to contact and share manuscripts with third parties, for example, author(s)’ institution(s) and ethics committee(s).
